IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT.3) 


/ 


O 


^^ 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


IIIIM 
M 

12.0 

1 1.8 

U    11 1.6 


|50     ""'^" 


V] 


<^ 


/A 


/a 


O 


7 


//A 


Photographic 

Sciences 

Coiporation 


?3  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


■J 


mm 


I. 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


I 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attenptad  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  availablf)  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  ma<   be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


..    Coloured  covers/ 
^    Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


D 


D 
D 
D 
D 

D 


Couverture  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pelliculie 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


□    Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  giographiques  en  couleur 


D 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relii  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  b^'^iding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  it6  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppidmentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  iti  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
do  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquis  ci-dessous. 


r^   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pelliculies 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxe( 
Pages  ddcolories,  tachetdes  ou  piquies 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d^tachees 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualiti  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materia 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppl^mentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


□  Pages  damaged/ 
Pas 

I      I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

r~yi  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I      I  Pages  detached/ 

[~T|  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I      I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  4t6  filmdes  A  nouveau  de  facon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  ast  filmi  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqui  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


y 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  fiimed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


L'exemplaire  fllmd  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6ro8it6  de: 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  4t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim^e  sont  filmte  en  commen9ant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  sc!t  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film^s  en  commenqant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Un  des  symboles  sulvants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbole  y  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film6s  d  des  taux  de  r6duction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Stre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  11  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

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>V      LETTERS 


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INTIRNAl  IMPROVEMENTS 


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COMMERCE  OF  THE  WEST, 


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DUTTOff   ANI>   WENTWORTH,   PRINTERS, 

Mos<  1«  aM  »  BKstange  6tra«<. 

1839. 


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COMMERCE  OF  THE  WEST, 


HENRY    A  ,    S       DEARBORN 


i^  0  s  1 0  u : 

nCJTTOM    AND    WrONTWORTH,    PKINIKR; 


839. 


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To  THE  Editor  of  thk  Coiikif.r  : 

I  place  at  your  disposiil  n  lotlor  from  (icii.  Doarl)orii,  who  is 
temporarily  residin^f  at  RiifValo  in  ch;ir<re  of  imponant  husinoss 
of  the  Commonwealth.  The  letter  is  apparently  tiie  first  of  a 
series,  containing  information  in  regard  to  tlie  productions, 
commerce,  &.c.  of  the  West,  whirii  I  have  suppoi^ed  might  be 
interesting  to  your  readers  ;  especially  as  tiic  subject  has  an 
important  bearing  upon  the  future  usefulness  of  our  Western 
Rail-road. 

JOHN  P.  RIG E LOW. 


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LETTER   I. 


Buffalo,  November  22,  1838. 


To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  : 

Dear  Sir, — Such  are  now  the  facilities  of  inter- 
communication, by  the  means  of  steamboats,  rail- 
roads, and  canals,  that  in  four  days  and  a  half,  from 
the  time  of  leaving  Boston,  I  was  standing  on  the 
banks  of  Niagara  River  and  looking  down  into  the 
profound  gulf  of  its  stupendous  cataract ;  and  had 
I  not  been  detained  twelve  hours  in  New  York,  in 
consequence  of  there  not  being  a  morning  boat  to 
Albany,  and  nearly  as  many  more  in  Rochester,  I 
should  have  performed  the  whole  journey  to  this 
place,  of  770  miles,  in  four  days,  without  being  de- 
prived of  an  hour's  sleep,  and  in  the  most  pleasant 
and  interesting  manner. 

It  is  impossible  for  persons  residing  in  the  older 
portions  of  the  United  States,  to  form  an  adequate 
conception  of  the  great  progress  which  has  been 
made,  and  the  giant  strides  with  which  our  country 
is  advancing,  in  population  and  all  the  arts  of  civil- 
ization,— of  the  wonderful  physical  and  moral  chan- 
ges, which  have  been  effected,  within  the  last  thirty 


6 


yt>ars,  tlirouiilunii  the  \vli()l(M'Xt('n1  ol  the  republic, 
Nvitl'  'I  passiiiff  ihi-oiiuih  llic  niistcni  ])arts()fNe\v 
Voi'k  and  P(Mn»s\  Ivania,  and  I  ho  new  slates  and  ter- 
ritories which  have  heen  Inrnicd  in  the  broad  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  since  llu>  close  of  the  Revolution. 

As  late  as  1792,  there  was  not  a  white  family  re- 
sidinijf  in  this  state,  west  of  I'tica,  and  that  immense 
fertile  ti-act  of  land,  from  the  bounds  of  Pennsylva- 
jiiaon  the  south,  and  tin;  shores  of  Tiake  Ontario  on 
the  north,  to  the  Niagara  River  and  Lake  Eric,  was 
a  wilderness, — the  hunting  grounds  of  those  once 
powerful  and  warlike  tribes  of  Indians,  which  foi'm- 
ed  that  very  remarkable  and  celebrated  con(iL:dei-a- 
tion,  called  the  Siv  ISaiions.  James  and  William 
VVadsworth  of  Connecticut  were  the  first  pion(!ers, 
who  had  the  enl.erj)rise  and  fortitude  to  jienctrate 
the  unexplored  (()!'(\st,  and  commenced  a  settle- 
ment on  the  right  batdv  of  (lenessee  Rivei',  within 
the  limits  of  the  [)resent  beautiful  Village  of  Gene- 
seo,  where  the  Ibrmer  gentleman  resides,  as  the 
enlightened,  hospitable  and  honoretl  })atriarch  of 
western  New  York.  His  brother,  who  was  emi- 
nent for  his  industry,  perseverance  and  patriotic 
efforts,  to  advance  the  b(\st  interests  of  those  zeal- 
ous and  llL'arless  fellow-citi/ens,  who,  with  him, 
harl  staked  their  lives  and  fortunes  in  the  same 
arduous  yet  commeiulable  career,  died  a  few  years 
since,  leaving  to  posterity  a  name  and  a  character, 
which  is  more  worthy  of  admiration,  and  b"ttcr  en- 
titled to  the  res|)ect  and   gratitude   of  succeeding 


^ameratioiis,  tlian  ihdst;  of  iIk^  (irecian  Aii;()nauts, 
lie  wenl  Ibrlli,  as  tlie  liorald  ol"  {ivilizalion,  ami 
boldly  adventured  into  the  depths  of  the  primeval 
wilderness,  to  leclaiiii  a  lujw  dondnion  for  ai^ricid- 
tare,  enlarj^e  the  sj)here  of  human  indiislrv,  and 
advance  the  ])ai)piness  and  prosperity  of  millions. 
He  was  not  ambitious  of  that  ilistinction,  which  is 
derived  from  a  merely  hazardous  expedition,  or  en- 
couraged by  the  buoyant  hope  of  retui'iiing  trium- 
phant to  his  native  land,  from  a  far  distant  clime, 
enriched  with  the  golden  spoils  of  concpiest,  or  the 
treasures  of  commercial  speculation,  on  the  barba- 
:  rous   coast   of  another  Colchis  ;   but  with   a  lofty 

I  spirit  of  virtuous  emulation,   and  that   unostenta- 

tious, yet  indomitable  perseverance,  which  no 
obstacles  can  imi)ede,  he  sought  to  be  the  benefac- 
tor of  his  country,  and  those  hardy  compatriots, 
who  followed  in  the  path  he  had  o})ened  ;  and  the 
glorious  reward,  for  all  his  perils  and  har>!:,hips,  is 
the  imperishable  homage  of  public  gratitude, 

It  was  not  until  after  seven  years,  from  the  time 
Hi  those  two  meritorious  sons  of  New  Enghiiul  reared 

their  log  hut  on  the  luxuriant  banks  ol'thc  (ienes- 
»  see,*  that  the  tide  of  emigration  j-eached  the  shores 

of  Seneca  Lake,  and  twelve  had  elapsed  before  it 
;  llowed  into   the  vale  of  that  beautiful   river  ;   but 

then  it  soon  rushed,  with  accumulating  energy,  to 
;  the  frontier  ol'  the  state. 


Gcnessec  i.s  tin'  Indian  iiaiin;  i'ov  I'lea:?a.m'  \  alllv. 


.1 — J.,lil lU 


8 


In  the  year  1813,  I  passed  through  Rochester 
and  this  place,  when  the  only  structures,  at  the 
former,  were  a  small  saw-mill,  one  log  and  some 
two  or  three  framed  houses.  Now  it  is  a  flourish- 
ing city,  containing  more  than  eighteen  thousand 
inhabitants,  Genessee  River  divides  the  city,  and 
being  precipitated  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  over 
rapids  and  falls,  within  its  limits,  furnishes  a  hy- 
draulic power  of  pre-eminent  grandeur,  which  is 
the  chief  cause  of  the  foundation  and  present  flour- 
ishing condition  of  Rochester.  These  falls  have 
been  carefully  guaged,  by  experienced  civil  engi- 
neers, and  found  to  be  equal  to  two  thousand  steam- 
engines,  of  twenty  horse  power.  There  are  now, 
within  the  bounds  of  the  city,  twenty  flour  mills, 
containing  ninety  runs  of  stones,  and  are  capable, 
when  in  full  operation,  of  manufacturing  five  thou- 
sand barrels  of  flour  daily,  requiring  a  supply  of 
twenty  thousand  bushels  of  wheat.  The  annual 
product  of  flour,  in  fertile  seasons,  has  been  esti- 
mated at  600,000  barrels.  There  are  also  many 
saw-mills  and  manufactories  of  carpets,  woollen 
clothsj  fire-arms,  and  numerous  other  articles. 


The  Erie  Canal  passes  through  the  centre  of  the 
city,  at  right  angles  to  the  course  of  the  river, 
thereby  aftbrding  a  direct  and  cheap  mode  of  trans- 
portation to  the  lakes  and  Hudson  River,  while  the 
mouth  of  the  Genessee  has  been  converted  into  a 
large  and  commodious  harbor,  by  the  construction 
of  two  piers,  each   of  which  extends  into  Lake 


9 


Ontario  nearly  2,700  Ibet.  This  highly  important 
work,  so  creditable  to  that  enlarged  and  liberal 
policy  of  the  nationpl  government,  which  is  render- 
ing such  great  and  indispensable  facilities  and 
security  to  the  navigation  of  the  lakes,  will,  when 
completed  in  solid  masonry,  require  an  expenditure 
of  about  $300,000.  Similar  artificial  harbors  have 
been  successfully  commenced,  and  are  nearly 
finished,  in  Sodus  Bay  and  at  the  entrance  of 
Oswego  River.  The  safe  and  spacious  port  of 
Rochester  admits  the  largest  steamboats,  and  other 
vessels  which  now  navigate  Ontario,  and  is  connect- 
ed with  the  city  by  a  rail-road  of  only  two  miles  in 
length  ;  and  a  canal  is  being  made  up  the  Valley  of 
Genessee  River,  to  connect  the  Erie  Canal  with  the 
Alleghany  River  at  Olean,  thus  opening  the  whole 
trade  of  that  rich  wheat-growing  region  with 
Rochester,  and  making  a  line  of  water  transporta- 
tion to  Pittsburg,  on  the  Ohio. 


Lockport  has  been  created  since  the  Erie  Canal 
was  opened,  and  contains  a  population  of  between 
seven  and  eight  thousand.  It  is  situated  at  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  deep-cut,  through  the  ele- 
vated ridge,  which  was,  at  some  distant  period,  the 
shore  of  Lake  Ontario  ;  and  the  great  descent  of 
the  locks  produces  a  water  power  of  such  vast 
capacity,  as  renders  that  admirable  site  for  a 
town,  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  inviting,  for 
mills  and  factories,  after  Rochester,  between  the 
2 


10 


Niagara  and  Hudson  Rivers,  on  the  line  of  the  Erie 
Canal. 


I' 


\f 


Buffalo,  when  visited  at  the  period  above  men- 
tioned, was  but  a  small  village,  consisting  of  some 
twenty  or  thirty  dwelling-houses,  all  of  which,  save 
two,  were  destroyed  by  the  British,  the  following 
winter;  and  the  only  means  of  reaching  Fort 
Schlossar,  the  landing-place  just  above  the  rapids 
of  Niagara  Falls,  was  by  an  Indian  path,  which 
had  been  barely  sufficiently  cleared  out  and  im- 
proved to  admit  the  difficult  passage  of  an  ox-team, 
or  a  batteau,  in  which  I  was  obliged  to  descend  the 
river,  from  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek,  the  present 
harbor,  to  the  Schlossar  landing.  Now  there  is  a 
rail-road,  with  locomotives,  the  Erie  Canal  for  half 
the  distance,  and  a  steamboat  which  makes  two 
trips  a  day,  besides  an  excellent  county  road. 
The  only  vessel  of  the  United  States,  on  Lake 
Erie,  before  the  gallant  Commodore  Perry  com- 
menced the  equipment  of  his  victorious  fleet,  was 
one  small  armed  schooner  ;  and  so  great  has  since 
become  the  demands  of  transportation,  that  during 
the  past  summer  it  has  been  navigated  by  five 
hundred  large  ships,  brigs  and  schooners,  besides 
sixty  magnificent  steamboats.  Such  is  the  accumu- 
lation of  goods,  which  have  reached  this  place,  for 
the  autumnal  supply  of  the  upper  country,  that 
nine  steamboats  left  the  harbor  this  morning,  laden 
as  deep  as  they  could  swim,  with  freight  and  pas- 
and  as  two  were  coming  down  the  lake, 


sengers , 


11 

there  were  eleven  seen  under  way  at  the  same 
moment.  There  were,  besides,  eight  laying  at  the 
wharves,  loading  and  unloading,  and  between  forty 
and  fifty  square-rigged  vessels  and  schooners.  The 
warehouses  are  still  filled  with  merchandise,  and 
the  canal  being  yet  navigable,  it  is  feared  there 
will  not  be  the  means  of  transportation  to  despatch 
the  whole  that  may  be  received,  before  the  harbors 
of  the  lakes  are  frozen  up. 

Thus,  in  the  short  period  of  twenty-five  years, 
a  city  has  arisen  on  the  ruins  of  the  conflagrated 
village,  which  contains  more  than  twenty  thousand 
inhabitants,  with  a  greater  number  of  elegant  stone 
and  brick  houses,  stores,  churches,  and  other  pub- 
lic edifices,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  than  any 
other  in  the  Union.  But  the  chief  increase  of  the 
city  has  been  since  the  completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  which  was  not  until  November,  1824 ;  and 
it  has  all  the  appearance  of  that  th"'Stj  growth, 
which  announces,  in  the  most  clear  and  decisive 
manner,  the  future  grandeur  of  this  truly  Tyrian 
creation.  In  less  than  twenty-five  years,  it  will 
inevitably  number  one  hundred  thousand,  of  the 
most  industrious,  enterprising  people,  who  ever 
gave  consequence  and  added  to  the  power  and 
glory  of  a  nation.  This  may  appear  extravagant, 
but  nevertheless,  the  reality  will  outstrip  the  pre- 
diction ;  if  the  exact  data,  furnished  by  the  post 
anJ  the  present,  are  to  be  consid'^-cd  as  sulTicientlv 
veracious,  on  vvliich  to  estimate  with  an  approxi- 


! 


12 


mating  accuracy,  the  results  which  are  to  be 
developed  in  the  fulvro ;  and  more  especially, 
since  the  successful  substitution  of  steam,  for  ani- 
mal power,  on  the  land,  and  that  of  the  winds,  on 
the  ocean.  The  triumphant  experiments  in  rail- 
roads, and  the  navigation  of  the  Atlantic  by  steam- 
ships, with  the  infinite  facilities  afforded  by  canals, 
of  unprecedented  extent  and  capacity,  have  given 
such  a  tremendous  impulse  to  industry  and  intelli- 
gence, as  was  never  before  experienced  or  contem- 
plated ;  and  the  prospective  consequences  are  so 
immeasurably  beyond  whatever  has  been  achieved 
by  genius,  science,  art,  wealth,  and  national  power 
combined,  that  no  mind  can  grasp,  and  no  pres- 
cience indicate  them.  We  are  witnessing  the  most 
sublime  spectacle  that  ever  attracted  the  wondrous 
gaze  of  philosophy.  A  movement  of  civilization, 
which  is  as  startling  and  momentous  as  one  of  those 
earthquake  convulsions  which  changed  the  entire 
geology  of  the  earth. 

There  is  not  so  commanding  a  position  in  the 
United  States  as  this,  for  forming  a  clear  and  just 
conception  of  the  grand  and  interesting  features 
of  the  physical  geography  and  moral  energies  of 
the  nation, — the  gigantic  strides  of  emigration,  the 
rapidly  expanding  bounds  of  all  branches  of  indus- 
try, the  vast  natural  means  of  intercommunication 
by  lakes  and  rivers,  and  the  inestimable  advantages 
which  are  to  be  derived  from  an  enlarged  and  libe- 
ral system  of  internal   improvements.     This  city 


i!.-. 


I 


13 


may  be  considered  as  the  focal  point  of  re-union 
for  the  innumerable  adventurers,  who  from  Maine, 
New  _^Iampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  Europe,  are 
destined  for  Ohio,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  and  the  still  farther  West.  Here  they  em- 
bark in  steamboats,  ships,  and  other  vessels,  for 
the  various  lake-ports  which  are  nearest  the  places 
of  their  several  intended  establishments.  It  is 
the  short  and  narrow  defile  through  which  all  the 
products  of  the  mines,  forests,  agriculture,  and  the 
numerous  other  branches  of  industry  of  the  im- 
mense western  region  must  pass  down  to  the  mar- 
kets on  the  Atlantic,  and  those  of  the  whole  globe 
up,  to  supply  the  wants,  comforts,  and  luxuries  of 
that  thronging  multitude,  which,  like  an  irrefluent 
flood,  is  sweeping  over  the  whole  surface  of  those 
fertile  and  flourishing  states  and  territories. 

It  is  a  position  which  will  command  a  greater  con- 
centration of  commerce  and  business  of  every  kind, 
than  any  other  in  the  interior  of  our  capacious  coun- 
try ;  for,  besides  the  conspicuous  advantages  which 
I  have  enumerated,  a  water  power  has  been  crea- 
ted by  the  construction  of  the  sea-wall  from  Black 
Rock  to  the  entrance  of  Lake  Erie,  which  is  not 
only  greater  than  any  other  in  the  Union,  but  equal, 
at  least,  to  the  whole  of  those  in  the  New  England 
States  ;  as  it  embraces  nearly  a  quarter  of  the  vol- 
ume of  the  entire  current  which  rushes  over  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  and  is  as  perpetual  and  inexhaust- 


|l5i;fl 


■^^■^^■p  •■■  >fw     t  f,^r^^ir~vw*  'I' 


14 


i/i"  1 


ible  as  the  four  inland  seas,  which  are  its  sources 
of  supply.  Mills  and  factories  may,  therefore,  be 
extended  upon  the  lateral  wall,  and  below  the 
dam,  to  the  entrance  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Tonnawanda,  without  producing  any  per- 
ceptible diminution  in  the  prism  of  water. 


.1. 


Your  friend  and  servant, 


H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


LETTER  II. 


Buffalo,  November  24,  1838. 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts : 

Dear  Sir, — From  the  two  powerful  causes, 
which  were  stated  in  a  former  letter,  Buffalo  will 
increase  in  population  in  a  manner  unprecedented 
in  the  history  of  any  of  the  very  remarkable  towns 
which  have  risen  into  consequence,  either  before 
or  since  the  war  of  the  Revolution  ;  and  with  the 
commanding  situations  of  Black  Rock  and  Tonna- 
wanda,  the  entire  area  of  land  between  the  nor- 
thern bounds  of  the  latter  to  the  shores  of  Lake 
Erie,  and  an  indefinite  eastern  line,  will  become  a 
continued  settlement,  which  must  ultimately  be 
united  into  one  city,  and  the  sooner  that  it  is  done 
the  better  it  will  be  for  each,  when  they  will  inev- 
itably become  an  immense  emporium,  which  can 
only  be  surpassed  in  grandeur  and  affluence  by  but 
a  very  few  others,  on  some  of  the  most  favored  har- 
bors and  estuaries  of  the  maritime  frontier. 

When  the  ship  canal,  from  Chicago  to  the  foot 
of  the  rapids  of  the  Illinois  River,  is  completed, 
cotton  can  be  brought  to  this  place  from  the  states 


i 


In 


! 


i 


16 


of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  by  steamboats,  at  as 
little  expense  as  by  coasters  and  land  transporta- 
tion, to  the  manufacturing  towns  of  New  England, 
while  wool  is  now  a  staple  product  of  a  large  por- 
tion of  this  State  and  Ohio.  What  a  field  for  man- 
ufacturing enterprise  will  then  be  offered,  by  the 
hydraulic  power  which  has  been  described  ;  not 
only  for  the  supply  of  the  western  region,  with 
cotton  and  wollen  fabrics,  but  every  other  article 
wliich  is  now  made  in  the  North-Eastern  States; 
and  especially  those  composed  of  iron  ;  for  the  in- 
exhaustible mines  of  that  metal,  and  of  bituminous 
coal,  are  being  opened  and  wrought  in  the  state  of 
Ohio,  and  can  be  delivered  here,  at  prices  which 
must  inevitably  cause  numerous  works,  for  the  con- 
struction of  steam  engines  and  various  other  articles 
of  that  invaluable  material,  which  will  be  required 
to  meet  the  increasing  demand  of  the  lake  country. 

The  coal,  with  wdiich  this  city  is  now  supplied, 
is  brought  from  a  mine  near  Cleveland,  on  the 
Ohio  Canal,  and  is  superior,  as  fuel,  to  any  of  the 
varieties  imported  from  England.  It  is  so  com- 
bustible as  to  ignite  with  greater  facility,  and  pre- 
sents a  clear  and  vivid  blaze,  without  as  much 
smoke  as  either  the  Orrel,  New  Castle,  or  Cannel ; 
and  when  the  bituminous  portion  has  been  evolved, 
the  remainder  of  the  mass  is  so  completely  car- 
bonic, that  the  appearance  of  the  fire  is  that  of  one 
produced  from  the  best  charcoal ;  and  the  whole  is 
so  completely  consumed,  as  to  leave  only  a  com- 


i 


! 


ts,  at  as 
nsporta- 
^nglaiid, 
fge  por- 
hr  man- 
,  by  the 
id  ;  not 
on,  with 
•  article 

States; 

the  in- 
iminous 
state  of 
s  which 
he  con- 
articles 
equired 
ountry. 

ipplied, 

on  the 

of  the 

0  com- 
id  pre- 
>  much 
'annel ; 
v^olved, 
ly  car- 

of  one 
hole  is 

1  com- 


17 


paratively  small  portion  of  white  ashes,  such  as  are 
the  residuum  of  rock  maple  or  hickory  wood,  with- 
out any  scoria  or  cinders.  The  price,  the  past 
summer,  has  been  six  dollars  per  chaldron. 

Another  mine  has  been  opened  and  some  vessel 
loads  brought  here,  for  trial,  which  is  considered, 
by  eminent  geologists,  as  a  still  more  perfect  vari- 
ety of  the  bituminous  species  of  coal,  and  superior 
to  any  hitherto  found  in  any  country.  I  have  only 
seen  samples  of  it,  but  have  not  yet  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  witnessing  its  being  used  as  fuel.  It  is 
found  in  an  isolated  mountain,  in  Broomfield, 
Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  about  fifty  miles  from  Erie 
in  Pennsylvania.  A  canal  is  in  progress  from  the 
port  of  Erie  to  Pittsburg,  which  passes  on  one  side 
of  the  base  of  the  mountain,  in  which  the  coal  is  de- 
posited, in  a  vein  five  feet  thick  ;  and  a  rail-road 
will  be  completed  next  year,  from  Coneaut,  on 
Lake  Erie,  thirty  miles  westward  of  the  town  of 
Erie,  to  Beaver,  on  the  Ohio  River,  thirty  miles  be- 
low Pittsburg,  which  will  pass  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  mountain, — by  both  of  which  lines  of  trans- 
portation, the  coal  can  be  brought  to  the  shore  of 
the  lake,  and  thence  in  vessels  to  this  city,  where 
it  will  be  sold  for  not  more  than  five  dollars  per 
ton.  There  is  an  abundance  of  iron  ore  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  this  coal  deposite,  and  the  latter 
approximates  so  nearly  to  perfect  charcoal,  that  it 
can  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  iron,  even  with- 
out being  coked. 
3 


r 


! 


,; 


H 


18 


But  flour  mills  will  jirocede  manufactories  on  the 
Niagara,  from  the  facilities  which  the  location  pre- 
sents for  such  structures.  Large  vessels  can  either 
pass  clown  the  basin  formed  by  the  Black  Rock  sea- 
wall, or  the  main  channel  of  the  river,  and  unlade 
their  cargoes  of  wheat  directly  into  the  mills, 
and  when  converted  into  flour,  the  barrels  contain- 
ing it,  rolled  into  the  canal  boats,  for  transportation 
to  the  Hudson.  One  mill,  of  pre-eminent  excel- 
lence, containing  seven  runs  of  stones,  has  been 
built  by  Kingman  &l  Durfee,  within  two  years, 
which  grind  fifteen  hundred  bushels  of  wheat,  and 
turn  out  three  hundred  barrels  of  flour  daily  ;  and 
is  capable,  if  worked  twenty  hours  out  of  each 
twenty-four,  of  manufacturing  four  hundred  barrels. 

Some  estimate  may  be  formed  of  the  number  of 
mills  which  will  be  required,  from  the  fact,  that 
over  2,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  were  sent  down 
»he  lake,  from  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Ohio,  the 
past  season,  for  the  mills  in  this  vicinity,  and  along 
the  route  of  the  Erie  Canal,  as  well  as  for  the 
Albany  and  New  York  markets.  The  same  intel- 
ligent and  meritorious  young  gentlemen  have  com- 
menced a  still  larger  mill  on  the  Black  Rock 
dam,  having  cleared,  the  first  year,  the  cost  of 
the  first,  although  amounting  to  over  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 


,1 

■11 


!(ii' 


The  steam  saw-mill  at  White-Haven,  on   Grand 
Island,  directly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Tonnawanda 


M 


i 


mm 


s  on  the 
ion  prc- 
m  either 
ock  sea- 
:l  unlade 
e  mills, 
contain- 
)ortation 
t  excel- 
as  been 
D  years, 
eat,  and 
\y  ;  and 
of  each 
barrels. 

imber  of 
ict,  that 
nt  down 
hio,  the 
[id  along 

for  the 
le  intel- 
,ve  com- 
;k   Rock 

cost  of 
housand 


1   Grand 
lawanda 


19 


Creek,  and  the  town  of  that  name,  is  unequalled  in 
this  country.  It  contains  six  gan^s,  each  com- 
posed of  nine  saws,  which  are  chiefly  employed  in 
cutting  white  oak  j)lank,  for  ship-buildinf?.  The 
island  contains  about  15,000  acres,  being  nine 
miles  lonjj,  and  nearly  as  broad  in  its  greatest 
width,  and  is  covered  with  a  superb  growth  of 
trees,  chiefly  white  oak,  and  of  a  prodigious  size. 
I  saw  logs  at  the  mill  four  feet  in  diameter  at  the 
butt,  and  seventy  feet  in  length,  as  straight  and 
symmetrical  as  an  architectural  column.  I  was 
informed  that  trunks  five  f^et  in  diameter  and 
seventy-five  feet  in  length  have  been  sawed.  The 
plank  are  sent  down  the  Erie  Canal  to  Albany, 
and  from  thence  coastwise  to  the  several  navy  and 
mercantile  ship-yards  on  the  sea  coast.  They  are 
the  best  in  material  and  beauty  of  surface  and  uni- 
formity of  thickness,  which  have  ever  been  used, 
and  command  the  highest  price.  A  sufficient 
number  can  be  sawed  weekly,  for  planking  up  two 
ships,  of  five  hundred  tons  each.  Besides  t':e  tim- 
ber obtained  from  Grand  Island,  large  quantities 
are  received  from  the  Canada  shore  of  Lake  Erie, 
and  the  white  pine  logs,  for  boards,  which  come 
from  the  banks  of  Chippewa  River,  are  remarkable 
for  their  immense  size  and  superior  quality. 

The  land  of  Grand  Island  is  excellent, — equal  to 
any  in  the  Stale,  and  as  the  timber  is  removed,  will 
be  converted  into  farms  of  great  value.  Between 
it  and  the  main  land  is  the  island  of  'i'onnawanda, 


III! 


20 


of  about  a  liundrtMl  acres,  owned  by  Mr.  White,  of 
your  city,  and  on  which  he  is  erecting  a  cottage. 
It  is  impossible  lo  conceive  of  a  more  beautiful 
spot  for  a  summer  residence.  It  is  covered  with 
all  the  variety  of  trees  and  shrubs  peculiar  to  this 
part  of  our  country,  save  some  twenty  acres,  which 
have  been  cleared  and  cultivated. 

White-Haven  will  be  the  site  of  the  great  ship- 
yard for  constructing  the  numerous  steamboats  and 
other  vessels,  which  will  be  required  for  these 
waters. 


k    . 


There  must  be  a  large  town  at  the  mouth  of 
Tonnowanda  Creek,  as  Grand  and  Tonnawanda 
Islands  form  a  deep  and  capacious  harbor,  where 
the  largest  ships  that  navigate  the  lakes  may  be 
laden  and  discharged  in  perfect  security  against 
the  storms,  which  frequently  render  the  other 
ports  dangerous  to  the  commercial  ileets  which 
seek  them  for  shelter.  Besides,  it  is  the  basin 
and  grand  entrepot  of  the  Erie  Canal  ;  for  there  is 
properly  its  western  terminus  ;  and  the  period  is 
not  distant,  when  a  ship  canal  will  be  commenced 
at  that  point,  and  following  the  valley  of  the 
Creek,  pass  on  to  Lockport,  and  from  thence  down 
Eighteen  Mile  Creek,  to  Lake  Ontario  ;  the  dis- 
tance being  only  about  thirty  miles,  and  the  route 
much  preferable  to  that  which  has  been  projected 
from  near  Fort  Schlossar  to  Lewiston.  The  lock- 
age will  be  less  difficult,  and  the  work  will  not  be 


Hi  'i  • 


1 


f 


White,  of 
1  cottage, 
beautiful 
ered  with 
ir  to  this 
es,  which 


•eat  ship- 
Doats  and 
for  these 


mouth  of 
inawanda 
ir,  where 
may  be 
^  against 

10  other 
ts  which 
the  basin 
'  there  is 
period  is 
nmenced 
r  of  the 
,ce  down 
the  dis- 
he  route 
)rojected 
he  lock- 

11  not  be 


21 


exposed  to  injury  from  batteries  on  the  opposite 
shore,  in  the  event  of  a  war,  in  which  Canada  may 
become  a  hostile  country. 

A  town  has  been  laid  out  at  Niagara  Falls,  and 
a  number  of  elegant  houses,  stores,  and  hotels, 
have  been  erected.  Gen.  Peter  B.  Porter  has  just 
completed  a  magnificent  stone  mansion,  and  there 
is  all  the  appearance  of  a  thrifty  settlement.  There 
are  several  mills  and  factories  on  a  small  canal, 
which  is  supplied  with  water  from  the  rapids  ;  but 
another,  on  a  much  larger  scale,  is  to  be  excava- 
ted, which  will  afford  an  ample  water  power,  tor 
any  number  of  establishments,  in  either  of  those 
branches  of  business. 

Of  the  Falls  of  Niagara  !  those  mighty  Cataracts  ! 
I  say  nothing.  Like  the  ocean  in  a  tempest,  and 
the  Alps, — they  must  be  smi  to  be  appreciated,  for 
they  cannot  be  described. 

The  necessity  of  a  larger  and  more  safe  harbor, 
is  begun  to  be  experienced  at  Buffalo  ;  in  fact,  the 
present  one  is  even  now  barely  sufficient  for  the 
innumerable  canal  boats,  and  when  they  shall  be 
triple  their  present  size,  which  will  be  the  case  as 
soon  as  the  Erie  Canal  shall  have  been  enlarged, 
in  the  manner  which  has  been  commenced,  the 
daily  number  usually  in  port,  cannot  be  accommo- 
dated. Fortunately  there  is  no  difficulty  in  so 
enlarging  the  harbor  as  will  be  fully  commensurate 


!     i 


i     I 


■'I  It 


22 


with  the  demands  of  the  future  navigation  of  the 
city.  Nearly  opposite  the  extremity  of  the  pier, 
which  has  been  extended  into  the  hdvc,  from  the 
peninsula,  which  forms  the  left  lock  of  the  entrance 
of  the  Buffalo  Creek,  is  a  reef,  which  extends  to 
the  breakwater,  where  tlie  sea-wall  ends,  that  has 
been  named,  as  forming  the  basin  and  hydraulic 
power  of  Black  Kock.  On  that  reef  a  breakwater 
can  be  easily  erected,  which  will  form  a  harbor, 
secure  against  all  winds,  with  an  area  of  at  least 
five  hundred  acres.  From  the  mouth  of  the  pre- 
sent harbor  a  sea-wall  must  be  constructed,  down 
to  the  entrance  of  the  Niagara  River,  in  suilicient 
depth  of  water  to  allow  the  largest  vessels  to  lie 
afloat ;  and  the  space  between  it  and  the  shore 
filled  up,  so  as  to  form  a  spacious  quay,  or  landing 
place  ;  and  the  whole  of  the  ground  levelled  to 
the  southern  margin  of  the  canal,  and  intersected 
by  several  cross-cuts  from  the  latter,  into  the  har- 
bor. On  the  quay  and  borders  of  the  short  canals, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  main  trunk,  should  be  broad 
paved  streets,  which  will  all'ord  excellent  sites  for 
stores  and  warehouses,  and  where  the  chief  com- 
mercial business  of  the  city  will  be  transacted. 
The  general  government  should  construct  the 
breakwater  ;  but  if  it  does  not,  individual  enter- 
prise will  accom})lisli  that  indispensable  work.  At 
its  upper  end  should  be  formed  a  massive  granite 
pedestal,  and  surmounted  by  a  colossal  brt)nze 
statue  of  the  illustrious  De  Wiir  Ci.lnton,  a  hun- 
dred feet  high, — holding  aloft  in  one  hand,  a  Ham- 


iU 


\ 


-"•vmmiimmiw 


on  of  the 
the  pier, 
from  the 
entrance 
xtends  to 
,  that  has 
hydraulic 
eakwater 
I  harbor, 
at   least 
the  pre- 
;d,  down 
sufficient 
:1s  to  lie 
he  shore 
f  landing 
elled  to 
ersected 
the  har- 
t  canals, 
)e  broad 
sites  for 
ief  com- 
iisacted. 
uct    the 
I  enter- 
ik.     At 
granite 
bronze 
a  hun- 
a  11am- 


23 


beau,  as  a  beacon  light,  to  designate,  in  the  night, 
the  entrance,  and  pointing  with  the  other,  in  the 
direction  of  the  route  of  the  Erie  Canal,  New 
York  owes  such  a  monument  to  its  greatest 
BENEFACTOR,  in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
pre-eminent  services  he  rendered  the  State  ;  ay, 
the  whole  republic  ;  for  the  direct  and  glorious 
inihience  of  his  patriotic  labors  have  been  felt  in 
every  city,  town,  village,  and  dwelling,  throughout 
the  West  and  (he  East,  from  the  St.  Croix  to  the 
extremity  of  Florida. 

From  the  peculiarly  favorable  topographical  fea- 
tures of  that  portion  of  the  city  lying  west  of  Main 
street,  its  future  extension  will  first  be  towards  the 
new  harbor  of  the  Niagara  River.  But  all  the  area 
within  the  existing  limits  w^ill  ultimately  embrace 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  dense  population  which 
must  be  assembled  in  the  modern  Byzantium,  that 
will  majestically  crown  the  banks  of  this  American 
Bosphorus,  and  become  the  grand  entrepot,  be- 
tween the  vast  Euxines  of  the  West  and  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean.  Here  must  be  concentrated  the  pro- 
ducts of  every  clime,  destined  for  the  supply,  and 
in  exchange  for  those  of  a  large  portion  of  the  mil- 
lions of  inhabitants,  who  will  occupy  the  immense 
territory  which  extends  westw^ard  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  between  the  Ohio  on  the  south,  and 
the  high-lands  in  the  west  and  north-west,  which 
are  the  fountains  of  all  the  waters  that  flow  into 
Lakes  Erie,  Huron,  Michigan,  and  Superior,  and 


•I   i^s 


i.. 


it 


24 

the  deep  and  lengthened  channels  of  Missouri  and 
Mississippi,  above  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  with 
the  latter  majestic  river. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


♦'•-s 


w 


LETTER    FIT 


Buffalo,  November  28,  1838. 

To  the  Secretari/  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  : 

-Dear  Sir, — From  the  very  remarkable  physical 
features  of  our  country,  the  straits  of  Niagara  afford 
the  only  practicable  point,  within   the  bounds  of 
the  United  States,  for  forming  a  water  communica- 
tion between  the  Atlantic  and  the  four  great  lakes. 
The  extensive  range  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains, 
which  commences  but  a  little  distance  south-east  of 
Buffalo,  and  stretches  into  Georgia  and  Alabama, 
imposes  an  insuperable  barrier,  to  a  rival  outlet,  for 
the  trade  of  the  North-west.    Fortunately  for  New 
York,  the   tremendous  convulsion,   which  uphove 
those  Northern  Andes,  did  not  extend  farther  than 
the  latitude  of  the  Falls  of  Nunda,  on  the  Genessee 
River,  and   the  level  gorge,   thus  presented,  has 
enabled  the  intelligent  government  of  this   State 
to  turn  their  northern  Hank,  where  the  route  for  a 
canal  is  opened,  to  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson, 
without  encountering  but  an   inconsiderable  eleva- 
tion, above  the  level  of  those  of  Lake  Erie,  and 
which  can  be  made  to  flow  into  that  river,  with 
4 


26 


f 


'I 


a  descending  lockage  of  only  five  hundred  and 
seventy  feet ;  and  that,  too,  in  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty  miles.  At  no  other  place,  in 
the  entire  range  of  over  five  hundred  miles,  until 
past  the  southern  extremity  of  the  mountains,  can 
a  canal  or  rail-road  bt  formed,  into  the  immense 
basin  of  the  lakes,  or  the  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, from  the  sea-coast,  that  must  not  cross  a 
summit-level,  of  at  least  a  thousand  feet  in  height, 
requiring  an  ascending  and  descending  lockage, 
more  than   quadruple  that  of  the  Clinton  Canal. 


This  natural  geographical  advantage  has  been, 
and  must  forever  continue  to  be,  the  grand  cause  of 
the  prosperity  and  illimitable  expansion  of  Buffalo, 
Black  Rock,  and  Tonnawanda.  If  a  mere  spring 
of  water,  and  a  grove  of  a  few  trees,  in  the  midst 
of  the  arid  desert  which  lies  between  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Mediterranean,  induced  Solomon  to  there 
establish  his  "  Tadmor  in  the  wilderness,"  for  the 
accommodation  ot  the  numerous  caravans,  which, 
for  centuries,  carried  on  the  trade  of  Palestine, 
Greece,  and  the  Roman  empire,  with  Persia  and 
India, — if  an  advantage,  so  comparatively  insigni- 
ficant, was  the  sole  cause  of  the  rise  of  the  magni- 
ficent and  once  powerful  city  of  Palmyra, — and  if 
the  commerce  of  the  Israelites  with  the  Red  Sea, 
induced  the  navigators  and  princely  merchants  of 
Tyre,  to  create  the  emporium  of  Ezion  Geber,  and 
enabled  theEdomites  to  execute  those  splendid  tem- 
ples, theatres,  and  mausoleums,  in  the  solid  rocks. 


i      !• 


i 


a  ) 


27 


dred  and 

of  three 

place,  in 

iles,  until 

tains,  can 

immense 

the   Mis- 

)t  cross  a 

n  height, 

lockage, 

N'  Caxal. 

las  been, 
1  cause  of 
>f  Buffalo, 
re  spring 
the  midst 
|]uphrates 
to  there 
"  for  the 
^,  which, 
Palestine, 
ersia  and 
J  insigni- 
le  magni- 
, — and  if 
Red  Sea, 
chants  of 
eber,  and 
ndid  t  em- 
lid  rocks. 


which  encircled  the  still  wonderful,  yet  dilapidated 
and  long-lost  capital  of  Petra,  what  must  be  the 
consequences  of  a  position,  so  pre-eminently  supe- 
rior, and  where  there  is  a  combination  of  impul- 
sive powers,  which  are  in  perpetual  and  accumu- 
lating action  \ 

The  very  remarkable  and  propitious  influence, 
which  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  has  had 
upon  the  city  and  State  of  New  York,  has  been 
equally  experienced,  in  all  the  other  states  and 
territories  bordering  upon  those  five  great  lakes, 
which  are  the  perennial  urns  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 
The  opening  of  that  artificial  Nile,  gave  a  sudden 
and  mighty  impetus  to  enterprise  and  industry, 
throughout  that  whole  region  ;  and  it  has  been 
constantly  augmenting  in  energy,  from  the  co-ope- 
rating measures,  that  have  been  successfully  adopt- 
ed, by  the  respective  legislatures  of  each  of  its  poli- 
tical divisions,  to  render  the  advantages,  derived  by 
those,  who,  from  their  favorable  positions  on  navi- 
galjle  waters,  were  immediately  enabled  to  partic- 
ipate in  them,  common  to  a  still  more  extensive 
portion  of  the  population,  which  actually  did,  or 
speedily  must  exist,  not  only  within  their  several 
limits,  but  far,  far  beyond. 

Such  have  been  the  direct  advantages  which  have 
resulted  from  the  first  grand  experiment,  which  was 
made  to  test  the  utility  of  internal  improvements ; 
but   the   indirect  moral   consequences  have  been 


!•'         !>' 


1 1        it 
1'^       i| 


I- 

il  : 

t! 


28 


equally  astonishing  and  momentous.  The  states 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  and  afterwards 
Virginia,  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  were  roused 
to  a  just  sense  of  their  altered  conditions,  and  per- 
ceived, that  unless  they  imitated  the  enlightened  po- 
licy of  the  CATARACT  STATE,  the  business  of 
their  maritime  cities  with  the  interior,  would  rapidly 
diminish  and  ultimately  he  lost,  while  the  products 
of  agriculture  would  be  either  excluded  from  the 
Atlantic  markets,  or  the  farmers  and  planters  be 
barely  able  to  subsist,  by  a  competition,  which 
must  be  so  unequally  prosecuted,  as  long  as  the 
great  difference  of  the  expense,  of  land  and  water 
transportation  continued.  Then,  there  were  the 
rich  mines  of  coal  and  iron,  which  were  laying  use- 
less in  the  mountains,  and  would  be  forever  value- 
less, until,  by  canals  and  rail-roads,  they  were 
rendered  inexhaustible  sources  of  individual  and 
public  wealth. 


:  .'I 


From  these  considerations,  a  spirit  was  roused, 
which  soon  put  into  vigorous  action  all  the  resour- 
ces and  energies  of  those  states,  for  the  important 
purposes  of  internal  improvement  ;  and  lines  of 
communication  were  opened,  to  an  extent,  which 
included  an  expenditure  of  over  twenty  millions,  in 
Pennsylvania  alone. 

Example  as  well  as  interest  have  had  their  joint 
influence,  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Ken- 
tucky, and  several  of  the  southwestern  states, — 


■  I  iiianmtiH 


f 


29 


'he  states 
ifterwards 
fe  roused 
,  and  per- 
tened  po- 
usiness  of 
Id  rapidly 
products 
from  the 
anters  be 
n,  which 
ig  as  the 
ind  water 
were  the 
ying  use- 
er  value- 
ley  were 
dual  and 


s  roused, 
B  resour- 
mportant 
lines  of 
it,  which 
Uions,  in 


leir  joint 
an,  Ken- 
itates, — 


and  at  last,  in  portions  of  New  England  ;  and  pub- 
lic works  of  all  kinds,  for  the  advancement  of  the 
best  interests  of  the  people,  are  in  progress,  which 
no  one  would  have  anticipated  thirty  years  since, 
would  have  been  undertaken  for  a  century  and  a 
half  from  that  period. 

It  is  interesting  to  look  back  to  the  time,  when 
the  first  great  movement  was  made  in  England,  for 
the  construction  of  better  means  of  transportation, 
than  were  afforded  by  common  roads,  and  mark  the 
slow,  but  gradual  influence  of  the  Duke  of  Bridge- 
water's  bold  experiment,  not  only  in  that  country, 
but  this.  As  wild  and  extravagant  as  was  his  un- 
dertaking considered,  the  effect  was  felt,  even  here, 
for  Franklin  was  desired  by  a  gentleman  of  Phila- 
delphia, to  send  him  all  the  reports  and  such  other 
information,  as  could  be  collected,  in  relation  to 
that  work,  and  stated  as  a  reason  for  so  singular  a 
requisition,  for  that  period,  "  that  the  people  weic 
canal  mad."* 

Under  the  excitement  thus  produced,  a  canal  was 
projected  from  that  city  to  the  Susquehanna,  and  a 
survey  of  the  route  actually  commenced,  under  the 
direction  of  the  illustrious  Rittenhouse  ;  but  the 
difficulties  which  preceded  the  revolution,  becom- 
ing more  intensely  absorbing,  the  plan  was  aban- 
doned, the  mania  died  away,  and  was  not  again 

*  See  Franklin's  Life  and  Correspondence,  by  Sparks. 


30 


I 


•I 


I 


revived  until  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  seventy 
years,  when  the  work  was  earnestly  begun  and  un- 
remittedly  prosecuted,  to  the  Ohio  River. 

The  next  earliest  suggestion,  m  relation  to  ex- 
tensive lines  of  communication  between  the  Atlan- 
tic ports  and  the  western  rivers  and  lakes,  was 
made  by  Washington,  soon  after  the  close  of  the 
French  war,  which  ended  in  1763  ;  and  so  great 
were  his  exertions,  that  a  bill  was  obtained  for  ren- 
dering the  Potomac  navigable  to  Will's  Creek  ; 
but  the  contest  lor  national  independence  paralyzed 
all  such  pacific  measures  for  the  benefit  of  the  col- 
onies. Still  the  patriot  soldier  never  forgot  his 
favorite  project,  and  on  receiving  the  news  of  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  being  signed,  he  left  the 
American  camp  at  Newburg,  accompanied  by  Gov. 
George  Clinton,  to  explore  the  interior  of  New 
York ;  and  from  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  to 
the  Marquis  de  Chastellux,  it  will  be  perceived, 
how  deeply  he  was  impressed  with  the  very  re- 
markable geographical  characteristics  of  the  coun- 
try ;  the  peculiar  facilities  which  were  presented 
for  the  extension  of  trade,  and  how  clearly  the 
future  purposes  to  which  they  would  be  rendered 
subservient,  as  well  as  the  brilliant  destinies  of  the 
far-off' west,  were  revealed  to  his  luminous  and  ca-- 
pacious  mind.  "  I  have  lately  made  a  tour  through 
the  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  as  far  as  Crown 
Point  ;  then  returning  to  Schenectady,  I  proceed- 
ed up  the  Mohawk  river  to  Fort  Stanwix,  crossed 


;!  \'^ 


31 


"r^ 


f  seventy 
n  and  un- 


on  to  ex- 
^e  Atlan- 
ikes,  was 
se  of  the 

so  great 
I  for  ren- 

Creek  ; 
)aralyzed 
^.  the  col- 
irgot  his 
^s  of  the 

left  the 

by  Gov. 

of  New 

letter  to 
M'ceived, 
very  re- 
^e  coun- 
t'esented 
arly  the 
endered 
?s  of  the 

and  ca- 
through 
»  Crown 
iroceed- 
crossed 


over  to  Wood  Creek,  which  empties  into  Oneida 
Lake,  and  affords  the  water  communication  with 
Ontario.  J  then  traversed  the  country,  to  the  head 
of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and 
viewed  Lake  Otsego  and  the  portage  between  that 
lake  and  the  Mohawk  river,  at  Canajoharie. 
Prompted  by  these  actual  observations,  f  could  not 
help  taking  a  more  contemplative  and  extensive 
view  of  TJFE  VAST  Ini.am)  JS'aviga'I'ion  of  these 
United  States,  and  could  not  but  be  struck  with 
the  immense  diffusion  and  importance  of  it,  and 
with  the  goodness  of  that  Providence,  who  has 
dealt  his  favors  with  so  profuse  a  hand.  Would 
TO  God  we  aiay  have  wisdom  to  lmprove  them! 
I  shall  not  rest  contented  until  I  have  explored  the 
Western  country,  and  traversed  those  lines  which 
have  given  bounds  to  a  new  empire."* 

In  conformity  to  the  intimation  above  given, 
Washington  made  a  journey  to  Pittsburg,  in  1784, 
over  the  route  which  he  had  pursued  in  the  disas- 
trous campaign  of  General  Braddock,  and  on  his 
return  presented  to  the  Governor  of  Virginia  a  full 
report  of  his  views  in  relation  to  the  importance 
of  opening  an  intercourse  with  that  region  of  coun- 
try, and  distinctly  and  forcibly  recommended  the 
immediate  commencement  of  works  for  improving 
the  navigation  of  the  Potomac  and  James  rivers, 
by  locks  and  canals,  past  the  most  difficult  portions 


*S: 


ee  Washington's  Correspondence,  by  Spaiks. 


V 


32 


i^  f 


'I* 


■  1 


$ 


of  their  channels,  so  as  to  render  them  navigable 
for  boats,  and  establish  a  better  communication 
with  the  Ohio  River.  After  alluding?  to  the  natural 
desire  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  Vork,  and  the 
measures  which  each  would  inevitably  adopt  to 
secure  the  business  of  the  West,  he  magnanimously 
remarks  :  "  I  am  not  for  discouraging  the  exertions 
of  any  State  to  draw  the  commerce  of  the  Western 
country  to  its  f^  eaports.  The  more  communications 
we  open  to  it,  the  closer  we  bind  that  rising  world 
to  our  interests,  and  the  greater  strength  we  acquire 
by  it.  Extend  the  inland  navigation  of  the  eastern 
waters — connect  them,  as  near  as  possible,  with 
those  which  run  westward — open  these  to  the  Ohio 
— open  also  such  as  extend  from  the  Ohio  towards 
Lake  Erie,  and  we  shall  not  only  draw  the  pro- 
duce of  the  western  settlers  and  the  fur  trade  of 
the  lakes  also  to  our  ports — thus  adding  an  im- 
mense increase  to  our  exports,  and  binding  those 
people  to  us  by  a  chain,  which  can  never  be 
broken."* 

Thus  all  the  great  routes  to  the  lakes  and  west- 
ern waters,  which  have  been  completed,  or  are 
being  opened,  were  distinctly  pointed  out  by 
Washington  as  early  as  the  close  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war.  Like  Peter  the  Great,  of  Russia,  his 
conception  of  the  future  magnitude  and  grandeur 
of  the  republic,  and  the  importance  of  canals  and 


I  I 


Washington's  Correspondence,  by  Sparks. 


M 


f 


navigable 
Tiunication 
he  natural 
,  ami  the 
adopt  to 
animously 

exertions 
^  Western 
unications 
ling  world 
ve  accjuire 
le  eastern 
ible,  with 
)  the  Ohio 
o  towards 

the  pro- 
i*  trade  of 
ng  an  im- 
ing  those 
never   be 


ind  west- 
i,  or  are 
I  out  by 
i  revolu- 
ussia,  his 
grandeur 
inals  and 


88 


other  methods  for  developing  its  immense  natural 
resources,  were  as  vivid  as  they  were  enlarged  and 
patriotic  ;  and  so  confident  was  he  then,  of  their  ulti- 
mate construction,  that  the  power  and  the  means,  of 
that  greatest  of  sovereigns,  were  only  required  to 
have  been  at  his  command,  to  have  insured  their 
prompt  completion. 

Feeble  demonstrations  were  made  in  several 
sections  of  the  Union,  to  carry  into  effect  that  sys- 
tem of  intercommunication  which  had  been  consi- 
dered by  the  most  enlightened  men  of  Europe  and 
this  country,  to  be  indispensable  to  the  progress  of 
the  arts  of  civilization,  and  the  general  prospe- 
rity, wealth,  and  power  of  nations.  In  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  Great  Britain,  notwithstanding 
the  insurmountable  objections  of  the  accomplished 
engineer  of  the  Bridgewater  Canal,  founded  on 
scientific  principles  and  the  most  conclusive  prac- 
tical illustrations,  it  was  first  attempted  to  render 
our  rivers  navigable,  by  clearing  out  the  obstruc- 
tions of  shoals,  reefs,  and  bars,  building  dams 
and  jetties,  and  locking  round  rapids  and  falls  ; 
in  which  futile  endeavors  to  accomplish  the  de- 
sired object,  large  sums  were  expended  on  the 
James,  Potomac,  Sus([uehanna,  Schuylkill,  Hudson, 
Mohawk,  Connecticut  and  Merrimack  Rivers,  which 
only  went  to  prove  the  truth  of  Brindley's  remark 
before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons, — 
"  That  rivers,  above  the  point  of  their  natural  suf- 
ficiently perfect   channels   for   all   the  purposes  of 


A 


34 


.i;i 


i 


navigation,  were  only  to  be  considered  as  feeders 
for  canals."  The  utter  failure  of  nearly  all  these 
improvident  labors,  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
increasing  interior  transportation  of  the  country, 
becoming,  at  last,  apparent,  more  enlarged  views 
of  the  subject  began  to  be  entertained  ;  and  espe- 
cially after  the  able  and  instructive  report  which 
was  rnade  to  Congress  by  the  lion.  Albert  (iallatin, 
during  the  administration  of  l^resident  Jefferson. 
Still,  no  decisive  movement  was  made,  on  the  part 
of  the  National  or  State  governments,  to  execute 
any  of  the  great  works  which  had  been  so  clearly 
and  satisfactorily  recommended  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  respective  legislatures  of  each,  as  well 
as  to  the  intelligence  and  interests  of  the  people. 
The  burthen  of  the  public  debt  precluded  the  ac- 
tion of  Congress,  and  numerous  causes  were  com- 
bined, which  prevented  that  of  the  States.  The 
chief  of  which,  however,  was  founded  on  the  erro- 
neous assumption,  that  such  undertakings  were  to 
be  considered  merely  as  pecuniary  speculations  ; 
and  when  a  certain,  immediate  and  ample  interest 
for  the  money  expended  was  not  fully  apparent, 
the  subject  claimed  but  little  attention,  and  was 
summarily  disposed  of,  without  regard  to  the  gene- 
ral benefit,  which  was  to  be  derived  by  all  the 
various  branches  of  industry. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


li 


IS  feeders 
all  these 
ies  of  the 
country, 
^ecl  views 
and  espe- 
3rt   which 
Gallatin, 
Jefferson. 
1  the  part 
0  execute 
50  clearly 
onsidera- 
,  as  well 
e  people, 
d  the  ac- 
ere  com- 
es.    The 
the  erro- 
i  were  to 
ulations  ; 
interest 
ipparent, 
and   was 
he  gene- 
all    the 


LETTER    IV 


ORN. 


Bni'i'Arx),  NovKMBKR  28,  1838. 

Tu  the  Sfxretarij  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  : 

Dear  Sih, — The  only  projier  manner  in  which 
improved  facilities  of  intercourse  .sh  "'I  be  consid- 
ered, is  that  in  which  the  old  and  dinary  high- 
ways have  been  regarded.  When  me  population 
was  thinly  scattered  through  a  wilderness,  a  bri- 
dle-path, which  the  Indians  had  used,  on  a  route 
designated  by  spotted  trees,  subserved  all  the 
purposes  of  the  adventurous  pioneers  of  agricul- 
ture ;  but  as  settlements  increased,  and  villages 
appeared,  the  wants  and  comforts  of  the  inhabi- 
tants proportionably  multiplied,  and  the  necessity 
of  more  perfect  means  of  travel  caused  broader 
roads  to  be  cleared ;  and  with  the  progress  of  in- 
dustry and  affluence,  it  finally  became  indispensa- 
ble that  they  should  be  passable  for  wheels  as  well 
as  sleds,  and  be  capable  of  use  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year ;  their  surfaces  were,  therefore,  graded, 
bridges  constructed,  and  their  condition  generally 
amended,  in  the  ratio  of  the  purposes  for  which 
they  were  required.  During  all  this  time,  it  never 
entered  into  the  mind  of  a  single  individual,  that  a 


J 


I) 


11 ; 


1^ 


fr 


ii^^. 


P^•.     il 


ii» 


^1 

!^ 


il 


36 


revenue  was  to  be  derived  from  the  amount  of 
money  appropriated  for  such  objects  ;  but  so  far 
from  it,  taxes  were  expressly  levied  on  the  several 
towns  and  counties  for  maintaining  those  common 
and  important  avenues,  and  penalties  imposed  for 
any  neglect  of  their  condition,  which  might  endan- 
ger the  lives  or  the  property  of  the  citizens,  who 
had  a  right  to  pass  over  them  freely. 

At  last,  when  other  methods  of  rendering  the 
intercourse  between  various  sections  of  the  country 
more  certain,  expeditious,  and  economical,  were 
found  to  be  necessary,  instead  of  considering  a  ca- 
nal as  only  an  infinitely  superior  kind  of  highway, 
and  as  indispensable  to  the  augmented  number  and 
more  advanced  state  of  the  population  in  the  do- 
mestic, moral,  social,  industrious  and  commercial 
relations,  as  was  the  mere  trail  of  the  savage  to 
the  early  emigrants  in  the  Ibrest,  it  was,  by  some 
inexplicable  perversion  of  the  long  established 
principles  and  uniform  customs  of  the  country, 
looke '  upon  as  rather  a  new  field  for  individual 
enterprise,  where  capital  was  to  be  invested  on  the 
expectation  of  gain, — as  in  navigation,  commerce, 
or  manufacturing  establishments.  The  natural  con- 
sequence of  this  erroneous  aspect  of  the  subject 
was,  that  all  the  preliminary  inquiries  and  calcula- 
tions were  instituted  to  ascertain  what  income  could 
be  realized,  rather  than  the  more  correct  and  im- 
poriant  investigation,  for  establishing  this  simple 
fact ; — will  the  public  good  be  subserved,  in  propor- 


V  -y^ 


M 


37 


amount  o( 
but  so  far 
the  several 
36  common 
nposed  for 
ght  endan- 
izens,  who 


iering  the 
be  country 
ical,  were 
jring  a  ca- 
■  highway, 
umber  and 
n  the  do- 
ommercial 
savage  to 
!,  by  some 
;stablished 
i  country, 
individual 
ted  on  the 
ommerce, 
itural  con- 
le  subject 
d  calcula- 
ome  could 
t  and  im- 
lis  simple 
n  propor- 


tion to  the  amount  of  the  expenditure  to  be  in- 
curred. This  having  been  established,  the  course 
was  definite,  and  the  duty  of  vigorous  action  as  im- 
perative, as  the  demand  Avas  just  and  urgent. 

These  strange  and  deleterious  notions,  which, 
unfortunately,  too  commonly  prevailed  in  this 
couptry,  were  difficult  of  eradication.  But  such 
an  inversion  of  the  power  to  be  applied,  which, 
when  requiring  the  mightiest,  the  least  is  sought, 
is  an  anomaly  of  the  moderns,  and  of  recent  and 
limited  occurrence.  Among  the  ancients,  and  in 
continental  Europe,  the  great  works,  which  were 
required  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  people,  were 
undertaken  and  executed  at  the  expense  of  the  na- 
tion. The  canals  of  Babylon  and  Egypt,  the  arti- 
ficial harbors  of  the  Greeks  and  Carthagenians,  the 
aqueducts  and  roads  of  the  Romans,  and  similar 
structures  in  Italy,  France,  Holland  and  Russia, 
are  the  enduring  monuments  of  their  past  or  pre- 
sent power,  aflfliuence  and  intelligence.  When 
some  public  structure  or  improvement  was  sug- 
gested, the  question  asked,  by  such  men  as  Them- 
istocles,  Adrian,  Hannibal,  Sully,  Calbert,  Peter 
and  jNapoleon,  was  not, —  What  will  be  the  cost? 
but  others,  more  grave  and  pertinent  ; — Is  it  neces- 
sary, and  can  it  be  accomplished  ? 

Finally,  however,  reason  has  re-assumed  her  em- 
pire, and  whatever  is  required  to  be  done  for  the 
general   weal,   is   considered  as  being  within  the 


.M 


V:' 


38 


t   %' 


t    ff^ 


I  t  ■ 


peculiar  province,  and  to  belong  exclusively  to  the 
national   or   state  authorities.     This    is    not    only 
proper,   for  the  reasons  which  have  been  alleged  ; 
but  to  prevent  monopolies  that  may  become  onerous 
to  the  people,  as  well  as   having  a  direct  tendency 
to  retard,  rather  than  accelerate,  the  march  of  im- 
provements.    For   when    pecuniary  advantage    is 
the   least   object  of  consideration,  and  while  the 
benefit  of  every  citizen  and  the  universal    pros- 
perity of  the  country  are  the  grand  results  to  be 
attained,   the  works  themselves  are  the  alternate 
cause  and  effect  ol'  that  enterprise  and  industry, 
which  rendered  their  establishment  necessary,  as 
well   as  being  perpetual   sources  of  accumulating 
means  for  their  rapid  extension  and  multiplication. 
Yet  it  re(|uired  a  reach  of  intellect,  an  unwearied 
perseverance,  and  a  moral  firmness  of  no  ordinary 
character,  to  induce  the  first  great  experiment  in 
this  country.     So  little  was  the  subject  of  internal 
improvements  and  the  science  of  civil  engineering 
understood,  so  general  the  doubts  as  to  the  practi- 
cability and   expediency   of  their  being  rendered 
available,  and   so  strong   and  uncompromising  the 
prejudices  in  favor  of  individual,  rather  than  public 
expenditures,  for  such  purposes,  that  it  was  many 
years,  after  the  project  of  the  Erie  Canal  had  been 
presented,  before  it  found  sufiicient  favor  to  receive 
the  sanction  of  a  majority  of  the  Legislature.     In- 
deed,   such   was    the    indifference,    or    ignorance, 
which  prevailed,  that,  when  the  indej)endent,  truth- 
seeking,  and  intrepid  Forman,  as  leader  of  the  for- 


It 


39 


ely  to  the 
not  only 
alleged  ; 
le  onerous 
tendency 
xh  of  im- 
antage  is 
while  the 
sal  pros- 
ilts  to  be 
alternate 
industry, 
issary,  as 
Limulating 
iplication. 
inwearied 
•  ordinary 
riment  in 
f  internal 
gineering 
be  practi- 
rendered 
tiising  the 
an  public 
^'as  many 
had  been 
o  receive 
ure.  In- 
ijnorance, 
nt,  truth- 
if  the  for- 


lorn hope,  in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  offered  a  resolution  in  Febru- 
ary, 1808, — "  That  a  committee  should  be  appoint- 
ed to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  ex- 
ploring, and  causing  a  survey  to  be  made  for  a 
Canal  between  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson  River  and 
Lake  Eric,"' — it  is  notorious,  that  the  proposition 
was  received  with  such  expressions  of  surprise  and 
ridicule,  as  are  due  to  a  very  wild  and  foolish  pro- 
ject, and  was  only  finally  sanctioned,  upon  the 
ground  that  it  could  do  no  harm,  and  might  do  some 
good;"*  and  the  trifling  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars 
was  all  that  could  be  procured  for  such  a  vast  labor, 
and  it  was  not  until  April,  1817,  that  a  bill  was 
passed,  authorizing  the  commencement  of  the  Erie 
and  Champlain  (!anals. 

Then,  indeed,  there  was  an  action  and  a  zeal, 
worthy  of  the  momentous  occasion  and  the  age, — 
tor  a  master-spirit  led  on,  and  the  abundant  re- 
sources of  the  State  were  directed  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  noble  work,  in  a  manner  unparal- 
leletl  in  the  history  of  nations  ;  and  the  whole 
lino  of  the  two  canals,  exceeding  430  miles  in 
extent,  was  completed  in  eight  years.  But  at  one 
period,  so  powerful  was  the  opposition  to  the  pro- 
secution of  the  labor,  that  fears  began  to  be  enter- 
tained that  it  would  he  suspended,  even  when 
nearly  hall  finished. 

*  Gordon. 


40 


t 


The  practical  results  were  so  triumphantly  be- 
yond the  favorable  calculations  of  the  most  san- 
guine, that  not  a  single  man  is  now  to  be  found 
who  does  not  glory  in  this  magnificent  memorial  to 
the  meritorious  and  ever  to  be  honored  patriots, 
who  fearlessly  braved  every  difficulty,  which  was 
to  be  encountered,  during  the  progress  of  the  her- 
culean undertaking. 


Hi  I 


'?!» 


11 


•I'ii' 


The  consequences  to  the  nation  of  this  successful 
experiment,  are  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  human  in- 
tellect. It  has  established  a  new  era  in  our  desti- 
nies, and  thrown  an  arch  across  the  abyss  of  time, 
by  which  we  have  immediately  attained  a  position, 
that  otherwise  could  not  have  been  reached,  until 
after  the  revolution  of  centuries. 

The  number  and  extent  of  the  radiating  and 
tributary  channels  which  have  been,  or  are  being 
formed,  since  the  gates  of  this  Eastern  Mississippi 
were  thrown  open  to  navigation,  strikingly  indicate 
the  immense  area  of  territory  in  which  it  is  found 
to  be  the  most  direct,  commodious,  and  cheap  ave- 
nue for  transmitting  the  multifarious  and  increasing 
articles  of  uterchange,  between  the  ocean  and  the 
interior. 

If  the  states  and  territories,  now  embraced  with- 
in the  mighty  sweep  of  that  genial  influence,  which 
this  national  thoroughfare  has  so  broadly  diffused, 
looked  silently  on  while  the  work  was  steadily  ad- 


iiii' 


41 


hantly  be- 
most  san- 
to  be  found 
memorial  to 
:d  patriots, 
which  was 
of  the  her- 


5  successful 
!  human  in- 
i  our  desti- 
i^ss  of  time, 
a  position, 
ched,  until 


liating  and 
are  being 
Mississippi 
^ly  indicate 
it  is  found 
cheap  ave- 
increasing 
ean  and  the 


raced  with- 
ince,  which 
ly  diffused, 
steadily  ad- 


vancing, amidst  the  doubts  and  the  fears  of  the 
many  as  to  that  splendid  result  which  its  few  earli- 
est champions  had  predicted,  they  instantly  per- 
ceived the  far-reaching  advantages  when  it  was 
consummated  ;  and  with  that  confidence  and 
energy  which  is  inspired,  when  some  new  and  as- 
tounding, yet  unverified  truth  or  fact,  has  been 
confirmed  by  the  most  full,  complete  and  incontro- 
vertible illustration,  at  once  and  unhesitatingly 
entered  the  same  useful  and  honorable  career. 
Althousj;h  their  means  were  not  so  easilv  obtained, 
for  prosecuting  such  laborious  and  expensive  public 
works,  as  were  afforded  by  the  sufficient  and  rea- 
dily convertible  resources  of  New  York,  they  bold- 
ly created  them  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  people,  who  cheerfully  acceded  to 
the  imposition  of  a  tax,  for  that  special  purpose. 

The  aggregate  length  of  the  various  canals  for 
connecting  the  Ohio  with  Lake  Erie,  exceeds  a 
thousand  miles  ;  and  that  in  Illinois,  which  will 
open  a  direct  channel  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the 
Mississippi,  is  of  such  enlarged  dimensions  as  to 
permit  the  passage  of  large  vessels,  being  ten  feet 
deep. 

The  lines  of  rail-road  which  are  in  progress,  are 
fifteen  hundred  miles  in  extent.  Large  portions  of 
all  these  works  have  been  completed,  and  the 
whole  of  them  will  be,  in  a  few  years,  involving  an 
expenditure  of  48,000,000  of  dollars. 
6 


■p 


I 


42 


r 


,:'JK^ 


L'     ■■', 


The  territory  included  within  the  bounds  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan  and  Wisconsin, 
contains  280,000  square  miles,  and  is  twice  as 
large  as  the  kingdom  of  France,  and  six  times 
as  extensive  as  England.  The  population  now 
amounts  to  about  3,000,000,  and  if  it  shall  in- 
crease in  the  same  ratio  during  the  next  twelve 
years  there  will  be  more  than  6,000,000  in  1850, 
which  will  furnish  a  tonnage,  in  exports  and  im- 
ports, of  200,000,000  of  dollars.  But  should  the 
ratio  of  increase  be  only  that  of  the  average  of  all 
the  states,  there  will  be  96,000,000  in  a  century 
from  this  time. 


\  I 


i  III 


To  form  some  near  estimate  of  the  increasing 
resources  of  the  West,  it  is  sufficient  to  state,  that 
from  an  assessed  value  of  the  country  beyond  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  in  1798,  wealth  has  been 
created  within  the  forty  years  that  have  since 
elapsed,  to  the  amount  of  1,200,000,000  dollars.* 

But  the  State  of  New  York  has  not  halted  in  its 
majestic  march  of  improvement ;  and  while  others 
have  been  emulous  to  imitate  the  first  grand  and 
decisive  step  which  was  so  successfully  taken,  its 
career  has  still  been  onward,  and  the  prospective 
route  is  lengthened  and  expanded  beyond  the  ken 


*  I  am  indebted  for  these  statistical  details  to  the  very  able  Report 
made  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  last  winter,  by  the  Hon.  S.  Bf 

Rugglea. 


m 


ik 


43 


)unds   of 
isconsin, 
twice  as 
ix  times 
ion   now 
hall   in- 
:  twelve 
in  1850, 
and  illi- 
quid the 
e  of  all 
century 


Teasing 
te,  that 
ond  the 
s  been 
i  since 
liars.* 

I  in  its 
others 
id  and 
en,  its 
)ective 
le  ken 

!  Report 
on.  S.  Df 


of  even  those,  who,  from  the  advanced  watch- 
towers  of  intelligence,  have  the  most  commanding 
prosjjcct  of  that  yet  more  glorious  way,  which 
looms  in  the  receding  distance. 

Since  the  Champlain  and  Erie  Canals  were 
finished,  others  have  been  made  from  Syracuse  to 
Oswego,  situated  at  the  continence  of  the  river  of 
that  name  with  Lake  Ontario, — from  Seneca  and 
Cayuga  Lakes  to  the  Erie  Canal,  in  Montezuma; 
which,  including  those  lakes,  and  the  Chemung 
Canal,  forms  a  line  of  navigation  of  about  a  hun- 
dred and  forty  miles  : — from  Seneca  Lake  to  the 
Chemung  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Susquehanna, — 
from  Crooked  to  Seneca  Lake, — from  Utica  through 
the  vallies  of  Oriskany,  Sauquoit,  and  Chenango, 
to  the  Susquehanna, — and  from  Rondout,  near  the 
Hudson,  ninety  miles  above  New  York,  to  Hones- 
dale,  from  whence  it  is  connected  by  a  rail-road  to 
the  coal  mines  of  Carbondale  ;  and  those  from  Black 
River  to  the  Erie  Canal  at  Rome,  and  from  Roches- 
ter up  the  rich  valley  of  Genessee  River,  to  the 
Alleghany,  are  being  constructed.  The  aggregate 
length  of  these  canals  is  between  six  and  seven 
hundred  miles.  That  of  the  Black  River  makes 
the  navigation  of  the  Erie  Canal  available  for  a 
large  portion  of  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  State, 
including  Lewis,  Jefferson,  St.  Lawrence,  and 
Oneida  counties. 

There  has  already  been,  and  will  be  expend- 


p} 


'   I' 


44 


[ 

i     •! 

1 

ii    ;■! 


I ' 


.^li 


i"     I 


ed  b}'  this  State,  on  all  these  avenues  of  trade, 
19,000,000  of  dollars,  and  by  private  companies 
about  4,000,000,  making  23,000,000. 

Oswego  is  a  flourishing  town  of  about  six  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  and  having  the  most  commanding 
position  on  Lake  Ontario  for  a  commercial  empo- 
rium, it  must  become  a  place  of  very  considerable 
consecjuence.  Owing  to  the  measures  which  the 
national  government  has  taken  to  render  the  har- 
bor commodious  and  safe,  it  will  be  the  chief 
entrepot  for  the  imports  and  exports  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  population  on  the  American  coast 
of  the  lake,  as  well  as  of  Upper  Canada,  border- 
ing thereon  ;  and  by  the  Welland  Canal  there 
is  a  communication  for  l)rigs  and  schooners,  with 
the  three  other  great  lakes.  So  considerable, 
already,  is  the  demand  for  the  means  of  transporta- 
tion on  Lake  Ontario,  that  there  are,  at  least, 
twenty  steamboats  antl  more  than  a  hundred  other 
vessels.  Seventy  schooners  are  owned  in  Oswego, 
which  find  constant  employment,  as  long  as  the 
lake  is  navigable. 


The  Oswego  River,  having  for  its  sources  Onei- 
da, Skeneateles,  Owasco,  Cayuga,  Seneca,  and 
Crooked  Lakes,  and  there  being  a  descent  of  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  a  large  portion  of 
which  being  within  the  town,  the  water  power  for 
mills  and  factories  is  of  great  capacity  and  value, 
and  is  now  extensively  employed. 


m, 


46 


of  trade, 
;ompanies 


six  thou- 
nmanding 
al  empo- 
isiderable 
vhich  the 
•  the  har- 
ihe  chief 
f  a  large 
•an  coast 
,,  border- 
lal  there 
srs,  with 
siderable, 
ansporta- 

at  least, 
red  other 

Oswego, 
g  as  the 


;es  Onei- 
leca,  and 
t  of  about 
)ortion  of 
•ower  for 
ad  value, 


The  distance  from  Oswego,  by  the  canal,  to  its 
junction  with  the  Erie,  at  Syracuse,  is  only  thirty- 
eight  miles,  and  from  thence  to  Albany  about  one 
hundred  and  ninety. 

This  beautiful  town  has  grown    up  within  the 
last    ten  or  fifteen  years,  but  the  site  was  early 
selected   as  a   military  post,  and   is  notorious  for 
being  one  of  the  most  important,  on  the   north- 
western frontier,  during  all  the  Indian  and  French 
wars,    that    of  the  Revolution,  and  the  last  with 
Great  Britain  ;   for   it  was  the  only  point  on   the 
lakes,  to  which  there  was  nearly  a  complete  water 
communication  with  the  Hudson  River,  afforded  by 
Oswego  River,  Oneida  Lake,  Wood  Creek,  and  the 
Mohawk.     On  the  opposite  heights,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  harbor,  are  the  remains  of  the  fortifications 
which   were   erected  by   the  French    and   British 
armies,  during  the  long  and  desperate  struggle  of 
those  two  rival   nations  for  supreme   power,  over 
the  colonies  of  North  America. 

The  Chemung  Canal  is  becoming  of  infinite  con- 
sequence, as  a  coal  field  has  been  opened  in  an 
extensive  valley  in  Pennsylvania,  distant  only 
twenty-three  miles  from  the  Chennmg  Canal,  of  an 
inexhaustible  extent,  which  atfortis  a  bituminous 
species,  that  is  of  surpassing  excellence.  General 
Swift,  formerly  chief  of  the  corps  of  United  States 
Euirinecrs,  and  now  one  of  the  most  able  and  emi- 
nent  in  the  civil  department  of  that  science,  resides 


^n 

1           1 

46 


at  Geneva,  on  Seneca  Lake,  and  informed  me,  a 
few  days  since,  that  the  coal  combines,  in  a  more 
eminent  dee^ree,  all  the  valuable  (jualilies  of  the 
anthracite  and  best  bituminous  iiinds,  of  any  which 
he  has  ever  seen  ;  and  as  fuel,  and  lor  all  the  pur- 
poses of  furnaces  and  Ibrges,  it  has  been  fully  test- 
ed, and  is  pronounced  incomj)arably  superior  to 
that  of  any  other  location,  yet  discovered,  in  the 
United  States. 


si 


1  W 


\  ■ 
I: 


Although  there  is,  as  yet,  a  land  transportation 
of  twenty-three  miles  to  the  canal,  the  coal  has 
been  delivered  at  Geneva  for  live  dollars  per  ton  ; 
but  a  rail-road  will  be  fuiished  next  summer,  be- 
tween the  mine  and  the  canal,  which  will  so  much 
reduce  the  expense,  that  it  may  be  aflforded  at 
three  dollars  per  ton,  to  all  the  settlements  situated 
on  the  shores  of  Seneca  Lake  ;  and  when  the  Erie 
Canal  shall  have  been  enlarged,  there  is  no  doubt 
but  that  this  coal  can  be  sent  to  the  Atlantic  ports 
and  sold  as  cheap,  at  least,  as  that  imported  from 
Great  Britain. 


1'  •'■' 

ii! 
111!  I 

m 


i  ^  W 


In  addition  to  all  the  public  works  which  have 
been  named,  two  main  lines  of  rail-road  have  been 
projected  between  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Erie,  one 
extending  from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  and  the  other 
from  a  point  on  Hudson  River,  twenty-four  miles 
north  of  the  city  of  New  York,  to  Dunkirk  and 
Portland,  its  two  western  termini,  which  is  five 
hundred  and  five  miles  in  length,  and  it  is  estima- 


■.(*r» 


47 


med  me,  a 
in  a  more 
lies  of  the 
any  vvhich 
11  the  pur- 
iully  test- 
jperior  to 
ed,  in  the 


sportation 
!  coal  has 
5  per  ton  ; 
imer,  be- 
I  so  much 
fTorded  at 
:s  situated 
I  the  Erie 
no  doubt 
ntic  ports 
rted  irom 


lich  have 
ave  been 
Erie,  one 
he  other 
ur  miles 
kirk  and 
h.  is  live 
estima- 


ted that  it  will  cost  6,000,000  of  dollars.  The 
portions  of  the  former  between  Albany  and  Utica, 
Syracuse  and  Auburn,  Rochester  and  Batavia,  and 
Lockport  and  Buffalo,  are  opened,  being  nearly 
two  thirds  of  the  whole  distance. 

But  a  still  more  s'Sai^ic  work  has  been  under- 
taken,— the  enlar2;enient  of  the  Erie  Canal,  by 
which  its  capacity  will  exceed  that  of  the  present 
at  least  seven  fold,  being  seven  feet  deep,  and 
seventy  wide,  with  tlouble  locks  of  augmented  di- 
mensions, which  will  furnish  the  means  of  conve- 
nient trans|)ortation  tor  not  less  than  ten  millions  of 
tons  annually  ;  and  the  enlarged  size  of  the  boats, 
by  which  it  can  be  navigated,  will  immediately  re- 
duce the  cost  of  freight  nearly  one  half;  and  it  is 
contemplated,  that  uliimalely,  the  tolls  will  be  so 
much  lessened,  as  to  amount  to  only  four  cents  on  a 
barrel  of  Hour,  Irom  Buti'alo  to  Albany,  instead  of 
thirty-two  cents,  which  is  now  paid. 

Many  of  the  new  locks  and  other  structures  of 
masonry  have  been  commenced,  and  the  workman- 
ship is  superior  to  any  [  have  ever  seen.  The 
aqueduct  across  the  Genessee  lliver,  at  llochester, 
will  be  a  truly  Roman  work.  The  engineer  is  en- 
titled to  the  highest  commendation  for  the  plan, 
and  the  masterly  manner  in  which  it  is  being  exe- 
cuted. If  admirably  combines  strength  and  dura- 
bility of  material  with  scientific  construction,  ele- 
gance of  form,  and  artistical  perfection,  in  the  pre* 


48 


ft    '  I 


paration  and  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  poh' 
derous  marble  blocks  of  which  it  is  composed. 

It  has  been  determined  that  the  enlargement 
shall  be  effected  within  five  years,  and  the  estima- 
ted expense  is  15,000,000  of  dollars. 

Thus  the  amount  which  the  State  must  expend 
under  existing  laws,  will  be  20,000,000,  and  with 
the  sums  which  must  be  paid  for  taking  the  private 
rail-roads  for  })ublic  use, — and  which  should  most 
certainly  be  done,  and  for  improving  the  present 
canal,  will  make  the  enormous  sum  of  40,000,000 
of  dollars  ;  and  yet  such  will  be  the  surplus  reve- 
nue from  the  canal  fund  and  tolls,  beyond  the  an- 
•  lual  interest  on  the  money  borrowed,  thai  it  will 
form  a  sinking  fund,  which  will  be  sutlicien  to  pay 
off  and  reimburse  the  whole  principal  and  \u  erest 
in  twenty-seven  years. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


•  -^1  i 


-I, 


y^i 


)f  the  poh' 
posed. 

nlargement 
the  estima- 


LETTER    V 


U9t  expend 
),  and  with 
the  private 
houid  most 
he  present 
40,000,000 
irplus  reve- 
»nd  the  an- 
that  it  will 
:ien  to  pay 
and  ill  erest 


RBORN. 


Buffalo,  December  11,  1838. 
To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  : 

Deab  Sir,— As  it  was  intimated,  in  my  former 
communications,  that  othcM-  highly  important  lines 
of  navigation  had  been  commenced,  and  were  to  be 
ultimately  opened,  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Onta- 
rio, and  from  the  latter  to  Hudson  River  and  Lake 
Champlain,  it  is  proper  that  a  more  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  manner  in  which  these  objects  are  to 
be  accomplished,  not  only  within  the  Territory  of 
the  United  States,  but  through  the  adjacent  colo- 
nial possessions  of  Great  Britain,  should  be  given. 

These  several  works  will  vastly  extend  the 
sphere  of  commercial  enterprise,  by  diminishmg 
the  expense  of  transportation,  giving  a  much  broad- 
er diffusion  to  the  products  of  the  country  border- 
ing on  the  great  lakes,  as  well  as  increasing  the 
number  of  the  chief  and  direct  sources  of  its  im- 
ports on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
7 


I:fi 


50 


In  the  expectation  of  diverting  a  large  portion  of 
the  trade,  which  the  Erie  Canal  had  concentrated  at 
the  city  of  New  York,  towards  Montreal  and  Que- 
bec, a  company  was  formed  in  the  Canadas,  which 
has  been  aided  by  the  local  and  national  govern- 
ments, for  constructing  ship  canals,  that  would  ob- 
viate the  impediments  occasioned  by  the  Falls  of 
Niagara  and  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  a  free 
intercourse  between  tide  water  and  the  upper  lakes. 

The  first  of  these  grand  avenues  for  trade  which 
has  been  undertaken  and  completed,  is  the  Wel- 
land  Canal.  It  commences  at  Port  Colborne,  in 
Groverly  Bay,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Fort  Erie, 
and  extends  nearly  due  north  to  Chippewa  River, 
which  it  crosses  eight  or  ten  miles  above  the  town 
of  Chippewa,  and  is  continued  to  Fifteen-mile 
Creek,  at  the  mouth  of  which  it  debouches  into  the 
harbor  of  Port  Dalhousie,  on  Lake  Ontario.  The 
nearest  approach  to  Niagara  River  is  at  a  point  in 
Thorold,  west  of  the  falls,  and  distant  five  miles 
therefrom. 

This  canal  admits  the  passage  of  vessels  of  more 
than  a  hundred  tons  ;  but  its  location  is  not  consi- 
dered the  most  eligible  which  could  have  been  se- 
lected, and  it  is  not  of  suflicient  capacity  to  accom- 
modate steamboats,  and  fully  subserve  all  the  great 
purposes  of  its  construction  ;  still  there  is  consi- 
derable transportation  upon  it  ;  but  the  greatest 
portion  of  the  products  which  descend  through  this 


I 


9 


hi 


'j|i) 


51 


)ortion  of 
itrated  at 
,nd  Que- 
s,  which 

govern- 
ould  ob- 

Falls  of 
to  a  free 
3r  lakes. 

e  which 
le  ¥/el- 
3rne,  in 
)rt  Erie, 
I  River, 
le  town 
en-mile 
into  the 
>.  The 
)oint  in 
e  miles 


3f  more 
:  consi- 
^en  se- 
accom- 
e  great 
consi- 
reatest 
gh  this 


channel,  insteadof  reaching  Montreal,  as  was  anti- 
cipated, are  landed  at  Oswego,  and  from  thence  are 
sent  to  the  Hudson  River,  by  the  Oswego  and  Erie 
Canals,  although  there  is  now  a  direct  steamboat 
conveyance  from  Kingston  to  Montreal,  by  the 
Rideau  Canal. 

This  last  named  new  channel  of  communication 
has  been  formed  by  the  construction  of  a  canal  from 
Kingston  to  Bytown,  on  the  Ottawa  River,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles  ;  and 
from  thence,  the  obstructions  of  falls  and  rapids  of 
the  river  have  been  obviated  by  the  Grenville, 
Blondeau,  Carillon,  and  La  Chine  Canals.  The 
locks  are  thirty-three  feet  wide,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  feet  long. 

The  Rideau  Canal  is  a  stupendous  work.  It  was 
commenced  under  Wellington's  administration,  and 
cost  the  British  government  six  millions  of  dollars. 
A  distinguished  Engineer*  of  the  United  States 
has  stated,  that  the  works  at  the  various  falls  are 
some  of  the  finest  specimens  of  hydraulic  architec- 
ture on  the  continent  of  America.  At  Bytown  are 
eight  consecutive  locks,  of  from  ten  to  eleven  feet 
lift.  But  the  most  remarkable  work  which  has 
been  achieved  is  at  Jones's  Falls,  consisting  of  a 
dam,  sixty-two  feet  in  height  and  four  hundred 
long,  in  solid  masonry,  and  is  among  the  most  per- 
fect in  existence. 

*  Captain  W.  G.  Williams,  Topographical  Engineer. 


52 


1 


I  \ 


'.  'I 


It  is  by  this  route  that  all  the  supplies  destined 
for  the  upper  province  are  sent  from  Montreal  to 
Kingston,  and  the  occupation  of  the  Canadian  Voy^ 
ageiir,  has,  therefore,  ceased  ;  his  celebrated  boat 
song  is  no  longer  heard  on  that  vast  expanse  of 
waters,  which  for  more  than  two  centuries  were  his 
exclusive  realm, — its  hilarious  echoes  have  died 
away  amidst  the  isles  and  forests  of  those  intermi- 
nable lakes  and  rivers,  which  had  been  so  often 
traversed  by  his  light  and  rapid  bark  ;  and  the  rush 
of  the  fiery  steamboat  now  startles  the  wild  and 
wondering  Iroquois,  in  his  solitary  cabin,  as  it 
sweeps  majestically  through  the  foaming  cataracts 
of  the  broad,  deep,  and  furious  Ottawa. 


!      ill 

liil! 


i:  : 


li: 


A  much  more  important  project  has  been  under- 
taken by  the  colonial  government,  for  rendering 
the  St.  Lawrence  navigable  from  Kingston  to  Mon- 
treal, by  the  large  steamboats  which  are  employed 
on  Lake  Ontario.  To  accomplish  this,  canals  are 
to  be  made  round  the  rapids  of  the  Long  Sault, 
Cotteau  de  Lac,  and  from  La  Chine  to  the  harbor 
of  Montreal.  The  former  is  nearly  completed. 
It  commences  at  Dickinson's  Landing,  a  hundred 
miles  below  Kingston,  and  extends  to  Cornwall,  a 
distance  of  eleven  miles.  The  canal  is  ten  feet 
deep,  one  hundred  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and 
one  hundred  and  forty  at  the  surface  of  the  water. 
The  locks  are  finished,  and  are  the  largest  on  this 
continent,  being  fifty  feet  wide,  and  one  hundred 
and   ninety-six   feet    long.     They   are   formed  of 


m 


•:'i 

iii\ 


tc 


I 


i4 


destined 

ntreal  to 

lian  Voy- 

ated  boat 

>{panse  of 

were  his 

ave  died 

intermi- 

so  often 

the  rush 

wild  and 

in,   as  it 

cataracts 


[1  under- 
^ndering 
to  Mon- 
niployed 
naJs  are 
?  Sault, 
harbor 
npleted. 
iumdred 
I  wall,  a 
en  feet 
•m,  and 
!  water, 
on  this 
lundred 
med  of 


i 


53 


blocks  of  a  superior  quality  of  compact  black  mar- 
ble, which  is  obtained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  line  of 
the  canal,  and,  when  polished,  is  nearly  as  beauti- 
ful as  that  from  the  remarkable  quarries  of  Kil- 
kenny, in  Ireland.  There  has  been  expended  on 
this  grand  work  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  ;  and  I  was  informed  by  one  of  the  super- 
intendents, that  it  will  require  about  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  more  before  it  can  be  opened  for 
navigation. 

The  second  canal  will  be  sixteen  miles  in  length, 
and  the  third  nine.  They  are  to  be  of  the  same 
capacity  as  that  which  has  been  described.  Fi'om 
Montreal  to  Kingston,  by  this  route,  is  two  hun- 
dred miles,  which  requires  only  thirty-six  miles  of 
canal  to  render  the  St.  Lawrence  navigable  for 
steamboats,  throughout  its  whole  extent,  and  will 
open  a  direct  communication  between  Quebec  and 
and  all  the  towns  on  its  banks  and  the  shores  of 
Lake  Ontario  and  the  Niagaia  River,  as  high  as 
Queenstown,  a  distance  of  more  than  six  hundred 
miles. 

But,  on  the  American  frontier,  a  still  more 
imposing  line  of  navigation  than  either  of  those 
which  have  been  named,  will  be  opened  between 
the  lakes  and  the  ocean,  by  the  construction  of 
ship  canals  from  the  Niagara  River  to  Lake  Onta- 
rio, and  from  Oswego  to  the  Hudson. 


;«& 


54 


1    !' 


Among  the  works  of  internal  improvement  which 
were  emphatically  recommended  to  the  immediate 
attention  of  Congress,  in  the  memorable  report  of 
Mr.  Gallatin,  a  large  canal,  for  giving  freedom  to 
the  commerce  between  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie, 
was  deemed  of  the  very  first  consequence  ;  and  the 
subject  has  never  ceased  to  command  the  profound 
consideration  of  that  numerous  population,  which 
will  be  immediately  benefited  by  its  construction, 
and  of  the  national  government. 

The  waters  of  the  great  lakes  above  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  include  an  area  of  150,000  square  miles, 
and  presents  a  coast  within  the  United  States  of 
3,294  miles,  and  on  the  Canadian  shores  of  2,425, 
— developing,  in  the  aggregate,  a  line  of  navigation 
5,719  miles  in  extent,  which  is  nearly  double  that 
of  the  distance  between  our  Atlantic  ports  and 
those  of  Europe.  Even  the  portion  within  our  own 
territory  is  almost  three  times  as  long  as  the  whole 
sea  coast  from  Passamaquoddy  to  the  western 
bounds  of  Louisiana.  The  Niagara  ship  canal, 
with  those  from  Oswego  to  the  Hudson,  and  from 
Chicago  to  Peru,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  of  the 
Illinois  River,  would  afford  a  steamboat  inland  na- 
vigation from  the  city  of  New  York  to  New  Or- 
leans, which  would  not  exceed  in  distance  the 
route  by  sea.  What  an  indissoluble  golden  chain 
will  thus  be  formed  for  binding  the  several  States 
of  the  Union  more  firmly  together.  Interest,  and 
the  facilities  of    intercommunication,   will    break 


')  itu 


nent  which 
immediate 
e  report  of 
freedom  to 
and  Erie, 
3 ;  and  the 
3  profound 
on,  which 
istruction, 


e  Falls  of 
are  miles. 

States  of 
of  2,425, 
lavigation 
uble  that 
)orts  and 
1  our  own 
he  whole 

western 
ip  canal, 
md  from 
s  of  the 
land  na- 
^^e\v  Or- 
mce  the 
en  chain 
I  States 
Bst,  and 
I    break 


55 

down  the  barriers  of  dissimilar  customs,  obliterate 
sectional  prejudices,  and  induce  a  mo.  e  lofty  and 
enduring  patriotism  among  the  citizens  of  the  north 
and  the  south,  the  east  and  the  west.  All  will 
perceive,  that  to  insure  general  prosperity,  and 
give  strength  and  grandeur  to  the  republic,  they 
must  cease  to  entertain  jealous  and  selfish  opinions, 
and  become,  in  the  broadest  and  most  compre- 
hensive acceptation  of  the  terms,  harmonious  co- 
laborers  and  ardent  fellow-citizens  of  this  vast  na- 
tional family  of  freemen,  whose  noble  efforts  are 
strenuously  directed  to  the  advancement  of  civil 
liberty,  the  augmentation  of  human  happiness,  and 
the  fullest  development  of  all  the  energies  of  man, 
when  left  unrestrained  in  the  illimitable  exercise 
of  his  most  exalted  faculties. 

^  As  the  construction  of  a  canal  round  the  Niagara 
Falls  has  been  properly  considered  as  a  national 
work,  surveys  were  directed  to  be  made  in  1835, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Chief  of  the  Topographi- 
cal Engineers  ;  and  that  duty  was  performed  in  a 
most  thorough,  skilful,  and  highly  satisfactory  man- 
ner, by  Captain  Williams,  of  that  very  useful  and 
important  corps.*  I  have  not  seen  any  re]jort  on 
hydraulic  engineering,  in  which  is  concentrated  a 
greater  fund  of  information  in  relation  to  that  sub- 
ject, or  where  more  scientific  and  })ractical  intelli- 

*  I  nm  iii.l<>l,t(Hl  to  Captain  Williams  for  most  of  the  facts  in  rela- 
tion to  this  subject. 


JA& 


'  i 


1^' 


vH 


i       U'l 


[/  ! 


4 


I-    :/  I 


I 


66 


gence  has  been  displayed,  than  in  the  means  de- 
vised for  obviating   the   stupendous   impediments, 
which  the  bold  and  extraordinary  features  of  the 
various  routes  present ;  and  especially  in  surmount- 
ing, by  a  line  of  enormous  double  locks,  a  perpen- 
dicular height  of  over  three  hundred  feet,  between 
the  two   levels  of  the  termini,  and  more  than  two 
thirds  of  which  occurs  in  a  horizontal  distance  of 
less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile.     The  report  is  ac- 
companied by  several  beautiful    maps   and  plans, 
which  were  executed  by  Captain  William's  accom- 
plished assistants,  Lieutenants  Drayton  and  Reed. 
This  able  and  meritorious  officer  examined  and  sur- 
veyed four  main  routes.     The  first,  commencing  at 
Porter's  store-house,  near  old  port  Schlosser,   is 
continued  near  the  bank  of  Niagara  River  to  Lew- 
iston  ;  the  second,  beginning  as  above,  and  passing 
up  the  valley  of  Gill   Creek,  descends    the  ridge 
south  of  the  village  of  Lewiston,  and  terminates  at 
the  mouth  of  Four-mile  Creek  ;  the  third,  ascends 
Cayuga  Creek,  and  crossing  the  ridge  at  Pekin  de- 
bouches at   the  mouth  of  Twelve-mile  Creek  ;   and 
the  fourth,  commencing  at  the  mouth  of  Tonnawan- 
da  Creek,  ascends  the  same  to  Pendleton,  and  de- 
scends  at   Lockport   into   the  valley  of  Eighteen- 
mile  Creek,  which    it   keeps  to  its  mouth.     There 
are  variations  indicated,  as  practicable  and  worthy 
of  notice  in  several  of  the  routes.     Caj)tain  Wil- 
liams   seems   to  consider  that    the   second   is  the 
preferable  ;   but  there  are  so  many  conditions  of  a 
commercial,    as    well    as   military  character,  to  be 


^ 


I 


It,,, 


57 


means  de- 
ipediments, 
ires  of  the 
i  surmoimt- 
,  a  perpen- 
t,  between 
•e  than  two 
distance  of 
port  is  ac- 
and  plans, 
n's  accom- 
and  Reed. 
3d  and  sur- 
mencing  at 
hlosser,   is 
3r  to  Lew- 
nd  passing 

the  ridge 
rninates  at 
i],  ascends 

Pekin  de- 
■eek  ;  and 
'onnawan- 
I,  and  de- 
Eighteen- 
1.  There 
id  worthy 
tain  Wil- 
11(1  is  the 
tions  of  a 
ter,  to  be 


taken  into  view,  that  the  subject  should  be  pro- 
foundly investigated  in  all  its  aspects  and  bearings, 
before  any  route  is  decided  upon.  The  expense  of 
such  a  grand  public  undertaking,  should  not  form 
one  of  the  elements  in  estimating  the  relative  me- 
rits of  either  ;  but  that  selected,  cost  what  it  may, 
which  will  best  subserve  all  the  purposes  of  its  pro- 
jection, not  only  as  respects  the  interests  of  those 
sections  of  country,  which  are  most  immediately  to 
be  benefited,  but  of  the  whole  of  the  Union. 

In  the  event  the  Tonnawanda  and  Lockport  line 
should  be  selected,  the  canal  should  be  constructed 
entirely  distinct  from  that  of  the  existing  one,  if  it 
is  practicable  ;  so  that  the  different  kinds  of  navi- 
gation, peculiarly  adapted  for  each  of  these  chan- 
nels of  commerce,  should  not  be  impeded  or  jeo- 
pardized, in  any  portion  of  their  several  routes! 

Captain  Williams  has  recommended,  that  the 
locks  should  be  two  hundred  feet  long  and  fifty 
feet  wide,  and  the  canal  ten  feet  deep,  and  one 
hundred  and  ten  broail  at  the  surface  of  the  water. 

The  maximum  expense  he  estimates,  at  the  com- 
paratively small  sum  of  only  about  five  millions  of 
dollars. 

As  the  subject  has  been  frequently  brought  be- 
fore Congress,  and  several  able  reports  made 
favorable  to  the  views  which  have  been  so  long 

8 


Ill 


58 


i  m^ 


entertained  by  the  most  enlightened  advocates  of 
an  enlarged  system  of  internal  improvements,  it  is 
confidently  believed,  that  its  merits  are,  at  last,  so 
well  understood,  that  another  session  will  not  be 
allowed  to  pass  away  without  the  necessary  appro- 
priations being  made,  for  the  commencement  of  the 
work,  as  early  as  next  summer  ;  in  which  event 
the  very  intelligent  officers  of  the  Topographical 
corps  will  have  an  opportunity  of  evincing  their 
practical  skill,  as  well  as  scientific  attainments,  in 
executing  a  work  which  cannot  fail  of  redounding 
to  their  credit,  for  the  genius  and  talents  which 
must  be  employed,  and  to  the  honor  of  the  nation, 
for  its  wisdom  and  munificence  in  projecting  and 
completing  an  artificial  channel,  that  will  surpass  in 
grandeur  and  importance  the  celebrated  canal, 
which,  during  the  splendid  reigns  of  the  Pharaohs 
and  Ptolemies,  united  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea 
with  those  of  the  Nile. 

The  extensive  and  very  useful  services  which 
the  Topographical  Engineers  have  rendered  the 
state  and  national  governments,  have  not  been  suf- 
ficiently appreciated,  or  the  meritorious  character 
of  that  band  of  well-educated,  laborious,  and  eflTi- 
cient  officers,  so  well  understood,  as  is  desirable;  for 
warranting  the  endowment  of  all  the  means  which 
are  indispensable  for  a  full  development  of  a  com- 
prehensive civil  and  military  establishment,  that 
embraces  the  widest  range  of  important  duties,  of 
any  which  has  been  organized  since  the  foundation 


ti. 


CM'- 


'■&'■ 


^ 


69 


ocates  of 
;nts,  it  is 
it  last,  so 
11  not  be 
ry  appro- 
ent  of  the 
ch  event 
graphical 
ng  their 
tients,  in 
-lounding 
ts  which 
e  nation, 
ting  and 
urpass  in 
d   canal, 
^haraohs 
Red  Sea 


s  which 
Ted  the 
een  suf- 
haracter 
and  effi- 
able;  for 
s  which 
a  com- 
at,  that 
ities,  of 
ndation 


of  the  government.  It  has  been  too  limited  in  the 
number  of  officers,  and  the  diversity  of  objects 
which  should  be  included  within  the  field  of  their 
labors. 

Besides  such  explorations  and  surveys  as  are  ne- 
cessary for  the  specific  purposes  connected  with 
the  defences  of  the  country,  the  various  lines  of 
communication,  afforded  by  roads,  railways,  and 
canals,  and  the  location  of  works  for  improving  the 
harbors,  on  the  sea-coast  and  the  lakes,  and  the 
navigation  of  rivers,  the  construction  and  publica- 
tion of  maps,  of  every  portion  of  the  country, 
based  on  accurate  trigonometrical  principles,  and 
the  erection  of  all  the  hydraulic  and  architectural 
works,  other  than  such  as  belong  to  fortifications, 
should  be  added  to  the  duties  of  the  corps,  while 
geology  should  form  a  distinct  department  of  it,  as 
that  science  embraces  one  of  the  most  extensive, 
interesting  and  useful  branches  of  natural  history, 
from  its  immediate  connexion  with  the  arts,  and 
offering  numerous  great  sources  of  national  indus- 
try, prosperity,  and  wealth. 

Give  to  this  corps  ample  moral  and  physical 
means,  for  rendering  it  capable  of  accomplishing 
all  the  purposes  which  may  properly  be  ranged 
within  its  broad  sphere  of  action,  and  the  benefi- 
cial results  will  be  as  far-reaching  and  conspicu- 
ous, as  they  will  be  astonishing  and  glorious  to  the 
nation.     Hitherto,   the   officers  have  been  chiefly 


60 


iil 


.,': 


I  * 


I   II 


;  -f 


engaged  in  reconnoisances  and  surveys,  and  have 
not  been  favored  by  opportunities  of  carrying  into 
effect  the  various  extensive  plans  for  public  works, 
which  they  have  industriously  matured  ;  but  that 
they  will  be  as  eminent,  in  the  actual  illustration, 
as  they  have  been  exact  in  preliminary  investiga- 
tions, ingenious  in  theoretical  modes  of  construc- 
tion, i)erfect  in  the  details  of  plans,  and  accurate  in 
estimates,  we  have  the  most  complete  assurance 
j-om  what  they  have,  thus  far,  been  permitted  to 
perform. 

But  above  all  things,  when  the  time  for  construc- 
tion comes,  may  the  preposterous  notions,  so  pre- 
valent in  this  country,  as  to  the   management  of 
grand  schemes  of  improvement  and  all  public  and 
private  works,  be  abandoned.    By  some  unaccount- 
able and  irrational  process,  a  conclusion  has  been 
reached,  that  when  a  road  is  to  be  made,  a  bridge 
or  any  vast  edifice  created,   or  any  other  remark- 
able and  expensive  object,  to  be  achieved,  there 
must  be  a  board  or  committee  constituted,  consist- 
ing of  a  number  of  members,  which  are  multiplied 
in  proportion  to  the  immensity  of  the  plan,  which  is 
to  be  carried  into  effect,  notwithstanding  the  expe- 
rience of  all    time   fully  demonstrates,  that  there 
never   was    any    thing  pre-eminently   well    done, 
when  more  than  one  mind  was  employed.     The 
Parthenon,  the  Apollo,  and  the  Principia  were  each 
the  results  of  one  gifted  man.     Every  great  truth, 
fact,  discovery,  invention,  deed,  or  act,  which  is 


I  ■ 


61 


most  memorable  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  is  to 
be  traced  to  one  genius.  Combinations  of  men 
never  make  a  single  stride  in  mental  advancement. 
It  is  for  physical  operations  alone,  that  men  should 
be  brought  to  act  by  multitudes.  Neither  the  Na- 
tional Academy  of  France,  or  the  Royal  Society 
of  London,  have  added  a  page  to  the  volume  of 
knowledge.  They  have  but  recorded  the  labors 
of  individuals,  and  have  become  eminent,  not  by 
their  associated  etlbrts,  but  the  splendor  thrown 
over  them  by  such  mighty  men  as  La  Place  and 
Newton.  All  the  artists  of  the  age  could  not 
have  executed  the  frescoes  of  the  Vatican,  or  the 
cartoons  of  Raphael.  What  union  of  genius  could 
have  elaborated  the  immortal  poem  of  Milion,  or 
the  dramas  of  Shakspeare.  Whatever  there  is  in 
science,  letters,  and  the  arts,  that  commands  uni- 
versal admiration,  one  man  achieved.  Columbus 
imagined  and  discovered  a  new  world,  Galileo  ex- 
tended our  vision  into  the  unexplored  infinities  of 
the  heavens,  and  Locke  flashed  a  vivid  ray  of  light, 
through  the  dark  and  bewildering  labyrinths  of  the 
human  understanding.  In  fact,  whenever  many 
men  have  been  employed  to  do  that,  which  it  was 
desirable  should  be  best  done,  the  invariable  con- 
sequence has  been,  that  it  has  been  done  in  the 
worst  possible  manner.  11  among  them  there  was 
hn  individual  capable  of  executing  the  work,  he 
was  so  circumscribed,  or  impeded  in  his  move- 
ments, that  his  energies  were  prostrated,  and 
he   became  as  imbecile  and  useless,  as  the  inert 


\m 


ii;  w 


68 


mass  of  which  he  was  but  a  mere  component  part. 
He  may  have  been  endowed  like  a  god,  but  was  in- 
capable of  independent  action,  and  his  genius,  and 
talents,  and  skill,  and  erudition,  were  unavailable 
and  worthless.  As  well  might  we  fasten  the  Jes- 
sies of  an  eagle,  to  a  Promethean  bolt  in  a  rock  of 
the  mountain,  and  then  bid  the  noble  bird  mount 
into  the  emperion. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


r 


' 


4^ 


r 


part, 
as  in- 
),  and 
lilable 
3  jes- 
>ck  of 
nount 


LETTER    VI 


IN. 


Buffalo,  December  22,  1838. 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts : 

Dear  Sir, — The  reasons  for  enlarging  the  Os- 
wego Canal,  to  the  Hudson,  to  the  size  of  that 
which  has  been  proposed,  between  Lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario,  are  so  powerful,  that  it  will  certainly  be 
done,  after  that  shall  have  been  completed,  either 
by  the  United  States  or  this  State, — when  the  main 
line  from  Buffalo  is  being  developed  to  the  capacity 
that  has  been  determined  on,  to  its  junction  with 
the  Oswego  Canal,  at  Rome. 

These  canals,  besides  avoiding  the  delay  and 
expense  of  trans-shipment  of  the  imports  and  ex- 
ports, of  the  ports  on  the  upper  lakes,  will  save  an 
artificial  navigation,  on  the  line  of  the  Erie  Canal, 
of  two  hundred  miles,  and  only  increase  the  actual 
distance  fifteen  miles ;  and  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained that  even  in  its  present  condition,  it  does 
not  cost  as  much  by  thirty  per  cent,  to  transport 


!■■  il 


64 


|ii!  m 


goods  over  this  route  and  the  Welland  Canal,  from 
New  York  to  Cleveland,  in  Ohio,  as  through  Buffa- 
lo, by  the  Erie  Canal.  In  confirmation  of  this 
fact,  it  is  stated,  in  the  luminous  report  made  to 
Congress  last  winter,  by  the  Hon.  A.  P.  Grant,  as 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Roads  and  Canals, 
that,  frcm  an  estimate  laid  before  the  Committee,  it 
appeared,  that  of  the  twenty-five  thousand  tons  of 
merchandise,  which  was  shipped  from  New  York 
west,  in  1835,  and  passed  through  Oswego  and 
Buffalo,  four  fifths  took  the  latter  route.  Had  the 
whole  passed  either  port,  the  different  rates  charged 
on  each  would  have  been  as  600,000  dollars  to 
365,000,  leaving  a  result  in  favor  of  Oswego,  of 
235,000  dollars. 


But  thee  is  another  very  imposing  view,  in 
which  the  1  "agara  ship  canal  is  to  be  considered, 
as  connected  with  the  contemplated  line  of  commu- 
nication, by  a  canal,  or  rail-road,  and  possibly 
both,  from  Ogdensburgh,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  to 
Lake  Champlain  ;  and  from  whence  the  products 
of  the  west  can  be  sent  to  all  parts  of  Vermont, 
New  Hampshire,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  and  Con- 
necticut, if  those  states  are  roused  to  a  just  con- 
ception of  their  vital  interests,  by  a  broad  deve- 
lopment of  the  natural  and  artificial  means,  which 
are  at  their  command,  for  opening  such  extensive 
markets  for  their  articles  of  domestic  industry,  the 
fisheries,  and  of  foreign  im})ortations,  as  can  be 
profitably  exchanged,  for  those  of  that  immense  re- 


i^ 


M 


65 


gion,  to  which   they   may   be  directly   and  chiefly 
transported. 

Ogdensburgh  now  has  a  transportation  line  of 
schooners  to  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  and  the  inter- 
mediate ports  ;  and  Oswego  carries  on  a  very  con- 
siderable trade  with  the  upper  lakes,  through  the 
We II and  Canal  ;  although  it  but  indifferently  an- 
swers the  great  purpose  for  which  it  w^as  formed, 
from  a  defect  in  its  capacity,  and  the  delays  which 
are  occasioned  in  consequence  of  the  accidents  to 
which  it  is  liable,  from  the  imperfect  manner  in 
which  the  work  was  executed. 

Ogdensburgh  has,  within  the  immediate  sur- 
rounding country,  invaluable  sources  of  wealth, 
which  will  render  that  town  the  most  eminent  for 
its  extent  of  business  and  population,  of  any,  be- 
tween Montreal  and  Oswego,  should  neither  of  the 
new  channels  of  transportation  be  formed  ;  but  if 
all  are  completed,  its  i-apid  rise  in  commercial 
prosperity  and  consecjucncc  is  beyond  all  doubt. 
The  harbor  is  excellent,  and  may  easily  be  render- 
ed more  capacious  and  secure,  at  but  little  ex- 
pense, when  compared  with  the  business,  which 
will  be  there  concentrated,  in  the  progress  of 
events,  which  are  daily  becojning  of  greater  im- 
port, with  the  general  march  of  internal  improve- 
ments. 


The  town  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oswe- 
0 


66 


•Mm 


t 


n 


1 « 


gotchee  River,  directly  opposite  Prescott,  and 
about  sixty  miles  below  the  entrance  into  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  from  Lake  Ontario,  one  hundred 
and  ten  from  Oswego,  one  hundred  and  seventy 
from  Rochester  Landing,  near  the  mouth  of  Ge- 
nessee*  River,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty  from 
Lewiston,  on  the  Niagara. 

TheOswegotchee  has  numerous  tributary  stream  .^ 
which  extend  into  St.  Lawrence,  Jefferson,  Lewis, 
Herkimer,  and  Hamilton  counties  ;  and  between 
four  and  five  miles  above  Ogdensburgh  it  receives 
the  waters  of  Black  Lake,  which  is  twenty-four 
miles  long,  and  varies  in  breadth  from  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  to  three.  It  is  navigated  by  steam  and 
other  boats,  and  thus  becomes  a  very  convenient 
means  of  comnlunication  with  a  large  tract  of  coun- 
try. Below  the  junction  of  the  outlet  of  Black 
Lake  with  the  Oswegotchee,  there  are  two  rapids 
and  a  very  considerable  full,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  which  furnish  most  valuable  hydraulic  pow- 
ers that  are  already  used  to  a  considerable  extent ; 
there  being  two  large  llour,  two  grist  and  two  saw- 
mills, three  foundries,  extensive  distilling  and  tan- 
ning establishmenti),  machine  and  other  factories. 


*  In  a  lornier  letlii',  I  stuted,  that  GcnoeisiM'  meant  Pleasant  Vallty; 
but  Ho-noii-tlc-iili,  a  yoniifr  and  well  ('(lucatid  Senecu  cliicf  inlbinis 
na;  that  (jleiiesseo  is  iiroiujUMccd  hy  the  Indians  Jo-ncs-hc-yn,  and 
the  word  is  derived  li'oin  (jlats-lic-nas-hci-yii,  and  means  a  Good  Val- 
Itxf — having  a  reference  to  ihc  feiiility  of  the  soil,  as  well  as  the  beauty 
of  the  scenery. 


67 


Ogdensburgh  was  the  site  of  a  garrison,  in  the 
old  colonial  and  Indian  wars,  and  remains  of  the 
fort  and  stone  barracks,  erected  by  the  French,  are 
to  be  seen,  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  It  was 
also  an  important  military  post,  during  the  last  war 
with  Great  Britain  ;  but  at  its  close,  did  not  con- 
tain more  than  three  hundred  inhabitants,  and 
there  are  now  more  than  three  thousand. 


The  county  of  St.  Lawrence  is  very  prolific  in 
mineral  treasures  ;  besides  numerous  (Quarries  of 
free  and  lime  stone,  and  marble,  there  are  exten- 
sive lead  mines  in  Rossie,  near  the  upper  end  of 
Black  Lake.  Two  veins  have  been  opened,  which 
I  examined.  They  run  vertically  through  hills  of 
granite,  and  are  from  two  to  three  feet  thick,  de- 
scending indefinitely.  The  ore  is  in  chrystals, 
mixed  with  white  granular  lime-stone,  which  is 
easily  crushed,  by  iron  cylinders,  and  the  lead  ob- 
tained by  washing.  The  smelting  works,  erected 
within  two  years,  have  yielded  a  hundred  tons  of 
the  purest  lead,  in  pigs,  per  month  ;  and  the  quan- 
tity can  be  increased  to  a  vast  amount,  as  there  is  a 
stream,  which  falls  into  Black  Lake,  that  aflfords 
ample  water  power,  for  all  the  various  processes 
of  preparing  the  lead  for  market.  It  is  chiefly 
sent  to  Albany. 


'  r 


In  the  towns  of  Waddington,  Norfolk,  Fowler, 
Brasher,  Rossie,  and  many  other  places,  are  inex- 
haustible deposites  of  iron  ore,  where  large  fur- 


If'l' 


l;i 


i;t 


;1i 


. 

1 

j    1 

1           'M 

6« 


naces  are  in  operation ;  and  in  Canton,  about 
twenty  miles  south-east  from  Ogdensburgh,  a  rich 
copper  mine  has  been  recently  discovered,  which 
will  soon  be  wrought,  and  there  are  indications  of 
other  deposites  of  that  important  metal, — which  is 
only  second  to  iron  in  its  general  use,  for  mecha- 
nical and  other  purposes. 

At  present  the  Atlantic  imports  and  exports  of 
Ogdensburgh  ai-e  by  the  River  St.  Lawrence  and 
Lake  Ontario  to  Oswego,  and  from  thence  by  the 
canal  line  toiVlbany  ;  but  the  canal,  from  Rome  to 
Carthage,  on  the  Black  River,  is  to  he  continued  to 
this  town. 

Waddington  is  a  flourishing  town,  eighteen  miles 
below  Ogdensbui'gh.  Opposite  the  village  is  Og- 
den's  Island,  containing  nine  hundred  acres  of 
land,  equal  to  any  in  the  State,  for  wheat,  and  all 
other  products  of  northern  agriculture.  Mr.  Ogden 
has  a  beautiful  mansion  on  this  picturesque  river 
isle,  and  cultivates  a  large  farm,  in  such  a  superior 
manner,  as  renders  it  a  model  of  husbandry,  to  the 
surrounding  country.  He  has  raised  sixty  bushels 
of  wheat  to  the  acre,  by  adopting  the  most  appro- 
ved English  system  of  tillage.  He  is  zealously  de- 
voted to  rustic  labors, — the  most  honorable  in 
which  man  can  be  engaged,  and  from  the  nu- 
merous useful  experiments  he  is  continually  mak- 
ing is  doing  much  for  the  benefit  of  the  coun- 
try. 


11' 


G9 


»n,  about 
1,  a  rich 
1,  which 
ations  of 
ivhich  is 
mecha- 


ports  of 
nee  and 
i  by  the 
lome  to 
nued  to 


n  miles 
is  Og- 
:res   of 
and  all 
Ogden 
e  river 
iperior 
to  the 
usliels 
appro- 
ly  de- 
ble  in 
e  nu- 
mak- 
coun- 


That  there  will  be  a  canal  or  rail-road,— and 
that  soon,  from  Ogdensburgh  to  Lake  Champlain, 
is  as  certain  as  the  existence  of  that  natural  recep- 
tacle, for  a  large  portion  of  the  imports  and  exports 
which  are  to  be  exchanged  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Mediterranean  ports  of  the  West. 

By  the  annual   report  oi"  the   Commissioners  of 
the  Canal  Fund  of  this  State,  for  1837,   it  appears 
that  the  aniuunt  and  value  of  the  property  trans- 
ported on    the    canals    during   that  year  were  as 
follows : — 

Products  of  the  Forest,  618,741  tons,  and  valued 
at  $'6, 146,716  ;  Agriculture,  208,042  tons,  and 
valued  at  .$16,201,331  ;  iMines,  ^c.  168,000  tons, 
and  valued  at  §3,134,7)6  ;  Manuf^ctures,  81,735 
tons,  and  valued  at  .^6,390,485;  ^Merchandise, 
94,777  tons,  and  valued  at  ."^23,935,990 ;  total 
tons,  1,171,296;  total  value,  855,809,288,  while 
the  amount  that  descends  the  Mississippi  and 
its  vast  tributaries  to  New  Orleans  is  only  about 
70,000,000  dollars. 


The  tolls  on  the  above  amounted  to  $1,292,623, 


38. 


The  numerous  natural  and  artificial  lines  of 
intercommunication,  which  I  have  attempted,  but 
very  imperfectly,  to  describe,  and  which  concentre 
in  the  valley  of  the  Hudson,  exhibit  the  wonderful 


El 


1 

1 

i| 

!' 

1 

I    'i; 


70 


influence  which  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal 
has  ah'eady  produced.  If  the  shores  of  this  west- 
ern Pactolus  do  not  glitter  with  the  golden  sands, 
which  rendered  the  oriental  river  celebrated  in  an- 
tiquity, there  must  be  an  amount  of  wealth  upheld 
and  floated  on  its  waves,  which  will  surpass  in  va- 
lue, the  most  precious  tribute,  that  ever  entered  the 
imperial  gates  of  commerce.  What  an  exciting 
and  glorious  spectacle  do  the  public  works  and  en- 
terprise of  this  peculiarly  favored  State  present. 
The  prospective  results,  from  the  mighty  causes 
which  are  and  soon  will  be,  in  full  action,  are  far 
beyond  what  the  most  gifted  human  prescience  can 
prognosticate  ;  not  merely  as  relates  to  this  rich 
section  of  country,  and  its  appendant  regions,  but 
to  the  whole  republic.  The  magnificent  revela- 
tions of  coming  years  will  be  such,  as  no  other  age 
or  nation  has  experienced.  We  have  been  wrapt 
in  wonder  at  the  astonishing  exhibitions,  which 
genius,  intelligence,  and  industry  have  presented 
in  our  day  ;  but  the  next  generation  will  look 
back,  upon  what  has  been  done  and  is  doing,  with 
an  amazement,  which  will  be  as  much  greater,  as 
the  extent  of  population  and  its  advancement  in  all 
the  arts  of  civilization,  will  exceed  what  now  ex- 
ists. 

Will  not  the  States  of  New  England  make  a 
prompt,  generous,  and  determined  effort,  to  parti- 
cipate in  the  advantages  of  that  immense  trade, 
which  has   been  brought  to  their  very  borders  ? 


X 


T 


71 


The  distance  from  Boston,  Portsmouth,  and  Port- 
land, to  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  is  about  1,340  miles, 
over  which  an  uninterrupted  line  of  communica- 
tion, by  steam  and  canal  boats,  has  been  com- 
pleted, except  for  the  comparatively  short  distance 
of  160  miles.  But  in  a  few  years  this  medium  of 
transit  will  be  extended  to  St.  Louis,  which  will 
increase  the  length  of  actual  inland  navigation  to 
1,070  miles,  save  the  small  margin  between  tlie 
Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain,  and  the  Ocean. 


- 1 


Thus  nature  and  the  enterprise  of  other  States 
have  left  but  om  tenth  of  the  entire  route  to  be 
completed,  and  that,  too,  devolving  on  a  people, 
whose  means  are  vastly  more  ample  than  were  at 
the  command  of  their  adventurous  fellow-citizens 
in  the  West  ;  and  who,  too,  have  been  celebrated 
for  their  daring  spirit  of  adventure,  in  all  other 
branches  of  human  industry.  In  commerce,  navi- 
gation, and  manufactures,  and  whatever  enlighten- 
ed intelligence  and  physical  skill  can  achieve,  they 
have  displayed  a  boldness  of  purpose,  and  an  energy 
of  character,  which  have  rendered  all  the  maritime 
portions  of  the  globe  their  tributaries,  and  caused 
the  rude  products  of  every  clime  to  receive  an  ad- 
ditional value,  and  become  new  sources  of  wealth, 
by  their  unrivalled  mechanical  ingenuity  and  un- 
tiring labor.  How  is  it  that  they  are  so  far  in  the 
rear  of  the  age,  and,  until  a  recent  period,  have 
been  inactive, — yes,  and  worse, — uninterested 
spectators  of  that  sublime  movement,  in  which  all 


72 


the  most  civilized  nations  of  the  earth  are  zealous 
participants  ?  Is  it  that  they  have  been  so  long  ac- 
customed to  look  forth  upon  the  deep,  and  seek 
in  distant  trans-marine  regions  for  employment  of 
capital,  and  an  excitement  to  vigorous  and  success- 
ful action,  that  the  immense  territory,  which  ex- 
tends far  beyond  their  bleak  hills,  and  was  so  long 
a  wilderness,  has  not  claimed  that  deep  and  merit- 
ed attention,  which  its  present  resources  and  future 
importance  so  imperiously  demands  ?  Or  can  it  be 
that  so  rapid  has  been  the  change  of  its  natural  fea- 
tures, and  so  magical  the  celerity  with  which  the 
game-grounds  of  the  Indian  have  been  converted 
into  luxuriant  holds,  and  the  wild  and  trackless 
range  of  the  lone-wandering  I^unter  reared  into 
})opulous  and  nourishing  states,  by  that  unhalting 
and  freedom-seeking  Saxon  race,  which  first  leaped 
upon  the  rugged  shores  of  New  England,  that  the 
real  fact  of  such  a  marvellous  change  and  such  stu- 
pendous results  had  been  produced,  was  either 
too  generally  unknoMU,  or  the  advantages  which 
might  be  derived  discredited  ? 


But  at  last  Massachusetts  has  turned  her  eagle 
gaze  westward,  and  has  entered  the  brilliant  ca- 
reer of  internal  improvements,  in  such  a  liberal 
and  zealous  manner,  as  gives  the  most  cheering 
assurance,  that  whatever  the  general  interests  of 
the  citizens  require,  will  be  inevitably  accomplish- 
ed, by  their  own  individual  exertions  and  the  effi- 
cient   co-operation   of  the    government.      Like    a 


>i  '.; 


73 


Grecian  competitor  at  the  Olympic  games,  that 
Commonwealth  runs  no  ordinary  race,  when  the 
prize  is  worthy  of  her  prowess,  energies,  and 
skill  ;  for,  on  the  hazardous  result,  she  boldly 
pledges  her  fortune  and  her  fame. 

Already  four  lines  of  rail-road  have  been  com- 
menced, which  radiate  from  the  capital  of  the 
State,  and  the  aggregate  jjortions  which  have  been 
completed,  exceed  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
in  length.  That  to  Providence,  has  been  extended 
through  Rhode  Island  to  Stoniiigton,  in  Connect- 
icut, a  distance  of  ninety  miles.  The  eastern  line 
has  reached  Salem,  and  within  two  years  will  touch 
the  bounds  of  New  Hampshire,  when  it  will  cer- 
tainly be  prolonged  to  Portland,  Augusta,  and 
Bangor,  in  Maine.  The  north-western  route  has 
been  opened  to  Lowell  and  Nashua,  and  is  to  pass 
up  the  right  bank  of  the  Merriniac  to  Concord,  and 
probably  from  thence  to  near  the  coniluence  of 
White  and  Connecticut  Rivers  ;  lor  there  are  now 
constantly  employed,  nearly  a  hundred  wagons, 
drawn  by  eight  horses,  and  carrying  lour  tons,  be- 
tween the  towns  on  the  eastern  Hank  of  the  (ireen 
Mountains  and  Boston,  on  that  route  of  travel,  as  1 
ascertained,  last  autumn,  while  passing  over  it. 


Branches  have   been  made  from  the  Providence 

route   to  Dedham   and  Taunton,  antl    a    company 

has  been  incorporated  for  continuing  the   latter  to 

New  Bedibrd.     From  the  Lowell  line,  another  has 

10 


"ft 


I 


ti 


I     I 


74 


been  constructed  to  Haverhill,  on  Merrimac  River, 
which  is  (Jestineci  to  pass  on  to  Exeter  and  Dover, 
if  not  beyond. 

The  GiiEAT  Wfsttikn  Rvtt.-koad,  for  connect- 
ing the  Erie  Canal  Avith  lioston  harbor,  has  been 
completed  to  Worcester,  and  next  autumn  will  en- 
ter the  valley  of  Connecticut  River,  at  Springfield, 
and  the  following  year  be  opened  to  the  confines  of 
New  York,  and  probably  be  finished  to  Albany. 

This  is  the  last  link  in  the  lengthened  chain  of 
intercommunication,  whose  terminating  rings  are 
secured  to  the  pier-heads  of  Boston  harbor,  and  of 
the  port  of  St.  Louis.  It  unites  the  ocean  with  the 
waters  of  the  Mississippi,  and  demands  the  united 
favour,  patronage,  and  energetic  co-operation  of  the 
people,  and  the  government  of  the  State,  to  bring 
it  to  an  early  and  successful  conclusion.  Next 
year  there  will  remain  but  about  sixty  miles  to 
complete, — a  large  portion  of  which,  is  in  the  pro- 
gress of  gradation.  From  the  bounds  of  Massa- 
chusetts to  Albany,  there  are  thirty  miles  which 
will  require  the  generous  exertions  of  the  citizens 
of  New  York  to  execute  ;  and  from  the  spirit 
which  has  already  been  evinced,  we  have  the  full- 
est assurance,  that  the  work  will  be  undertaken 
and  finished,  as  soon  as  the  rails  are  laid,  from 
Springfield  to  the  bounds  of  Mtissachusetts  ;  and  in 
1840,  we  shall  be  united  forever,  with  the  perpe- 
tually expanding    West ;  and  Boston  become  the 


' ,  i' 


;&  ■    ii 


75 


second  maritime  emporium,  for  all  the  States  which 
touch  the  great  lakes. 

The  grandeur,  present  importance,  and  future 
influence  of  such  a  vast  line  of  internal  commerce, 
can  only  be  but  partially  estimated,  even  when  the 
elements,  which  enter  into  the  calculation,  are  so 
numerous,  apparent,  and  incontrovertible,  as  has 
been  unfolded,  by  the  most  detaileil  and  exact  olii- 
cial  data. 

How  imposing  is  the  subject,  in  whatever  aspect 
or  relation   it  is  considered.     In   this  single  route 
the   six    New^    England  States,  with    New    York, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Missouri,  and 
the  territories  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  are  directly 
interested.     It  is  their  chief  and  common  channel 
of  intercourse  for  the   i)eople,  and  the  reciprocal 
interchange  of  the  products  of  all  and  each,  with 
each  other.     Thus  twelve  of  the  twenty-six  States, 
and  two  out  of  the  three  remaining  territorial  go- 
vernments which  compose  the   Union,  are  partici- 
pants in  the  countless,  measureless,  and  unceasing- 
ly augmenting  benefits  of  this  wonderful  national 
highway.     It   is   the  most  remarkable  commercial 
avenue  that  ever  was  opened  by  man.     There  is  no 
parallel  in  the  proudest  days  of  antiquity  ;   and  in- 
stead of  the  possibility  of  its  being  ever  rivalled  in 
any  country,  it  will,  itself,  be  triplicated  in  extent ; 
for  the  true  and  ultimate  terminus  is  to  be  on  the 
shores  of  the   Pacilic   Ocean  ;    and  the   splendid 


;!i: 


'•li 


'  p 


7() 


Alexandria,  of  the  Columbia  River,  will  become 
the  entrepot  for  the  products  of  this  vast  continent, 
of  China,  and  India,  and  of  f^urope  and  Africa. 

These  numerous  trade-connected  States  and 
Territories  contain  an  area  of  about  473,000  square 
miles,  which  is  nearly  half  of  the  whole  territory  of 
the  United  States,  embraced  in  the  States  and  or- 
ganized territorial  governments,  and  include  a  pop- 
ulation, which  cannot  now  be  less  than  7,000,000. 

But  what  is  of  still  much  greater  consequence,  in 
the  examination  of  this  subject,  the  character,  in- 
dustry and  intelligence  of  the  inhabitants  are  not  to 
be  forgotten,  but  kept  conspicuously  in  view,  as 
well  as  their  various  occupations.  In  the  first 
place,  such  as  are  farmers,  have  a  soil  and  climate 
for  furnishing  all  the  great  staples  of  food,  and  the 
chief  one  for  clothing,  which  are  the  best  in  North 
America.  From  the  longitude  of  I  -  tica  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, there  is  not  such  a  cattle,  sheep,  and  wheat- 
growing  region  on  the  earth. 

In  foreign  commerce,  where  has  there  ever  ex- 
isted such  a  people  as  the  hardy  and  adventurous 
navigators  of  New  England, — the  Carthagenians 
of  modern  times,  in  ocean  explorations.  They, 
also,  are  the  fishermen  of  the  nation.  Not  only  the 
sea-coast  from  Cape  May  to  Grand  Menan,  but 
Georges'  and  Grand  Banks,  as  well  as  all  the  ca- 
pacious estuaries,  gulfs  and  bays  which  plunge  into 


m 


77 


the  continent,  as  far  as  tlie  frozen  ocean,  are  sources 
of  those  inexhaustible  treasures  of  the  deep,  which 
make  up  such  an  immense  amount  of  the  product  of 
Yankee  industry.     Besides  all  this,  there  are  over 
four  hundred  whale  ships  which  traverse  the  coasts 
of  Africa,  Brazil,  Chili,  and  Peru,— the  South  Po- 
lar Seas  and  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  to  the  Island 
of  Japan.     The  capacity  of  the  vessels  employed 
in  foreign  commerce,  the  coasting  trade  and  fishe- 
ries in  New-l'ingland,  amounted  in  1834,  to  over 
700,000  tons,  which  was  nearly  one  half  of  that  of 
the  whole  union.     Then  there  are  the  products  of 
the  manufactories,  which,  in  iMassachusetts  alone, 
amount  to  nearly  90,000,000  of  dollars  annually. 

What  cannot  be  accomplished  by  such  a  united 
mass  of  valuable  and  various  industry,  as  will 
cooperate  to  swell  the  business  of  this  ever-length- 
ening and  wide-spreading  channel  of  national  ex- 
change ?  Like  an  ecliptic,  it  belts  the  physical 
sphere  of  the  republic,  and  within  which,  nearly 
half  the  constellations  that  fill  the  cycle  of  our  po- 
litical zodiac,  will  shed  their  effulgent  and  cheering 
influence  upon  those,  who  enter  this  triumphant  ca- 
reer of  commercial  enterprise. 


m 


Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 


II.  A.  S.  DEARBORN, 


}[ 

,  I 

1 1 


Vt 


'',* 


1 1 


LETTER   VTI. 


Buffalo,  De(:emi;f.ii  2(5,  1838. 

To  the  Scent anj  af  tlie  Statr  of  Mjssarliusetts  : 

Dear  Sir, — There  is  yet  another  line  of  trans- 
portation required  from  Sj)ringfield,  up  the  valley 
of  Connecticut  lliver,  as  far  as  Barnet,  at  least,  if 
not  to  Lancaster,  which  is  only  se((mil  to  that  of 
the  Great  Western  route,  and  which  cannot  fail  of 
commanding  an  early  attention  of  the  Legislature, 
and  of  the  numerous  intelligent  anil  enterprising  in- 
habitants, who  are  so  directly  interested,  in  the 
establishment  of  a  more  expeditious  and  economical 
mode  of  conveyance,  for  the  products  of  their  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  industry,  and  the  great 
amount  of  imports  which  are  received  in  exchange 
therefor. 

That  important  river  which  descends  from  the 
highlands  in  Canada,  between  Veiinont  and  New 
Hampshire,  and  traverses  the  whole  latitude  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  to  Long  Island 
Sound,  a  distance  of  over  lour  hundred  miles,  may 
be  appropriately  called  the  Ohio  of  New  Knglantl  ; 


(I- 


ili, 


[)i,..A 


79 


for  there  is  no  portion  of  its  territory  which  pre- 
sents such  a  continuous  and  broad  extent  of  fertile 
land,  and  offers,  at  the  same  time,  such  a  variety 
of  soil,— from  the  rich  alluvial  intervals,  to  the 
spontaneously  grass-growing  acclivities  of  the  op- 
posite hill  sides,  for  all  the  purposes  of  northern 
agriculture. 

Ft  is  also  prolific  in  several  valuable  mineral  pro- 
ductions. Besides  free  stone  and  granite  of  sup.c- 
rior  quality,  for  architectural  purposes,  there  ate 
deposits  of  rocfing  slate,  ecpial  to  the  best  import- 
ed from  Wales  ;  and  there  are  many  localities, 
where  iron  ore  is  in  sutlicient  abundance,  for  au- 
thorizing the  erection  of  furnaces.  Thul  of  Fran- 
conia,  on  a  tributary  of  the  Connecticut,  is  of  the 
very  best  kind,  and  sufficient  to  supply  all  the 
northwestern  portion  of  New  England,  and  only 
requires  the  facilities  of  a  rail-road  or  canal  to  ren- 
der those  works  as  important  as  any  in  the  Union. 

Then  there  is  the  primeval  forest  tribes,  which 
majestically  clothe  the  flanks  of  tlie  White  and 
Green  Mountain  ranges,  those  northern  Alleghan- 
ies,  which  would  find  a  most  profital)le  market  as 
ship  timber,  and  all  other  purposes,  in  the  numer- 
ous sea  ports,  which  indent  the  navigation-thronged 
coast  of  the  Pilgrim's  imomiski)  i,\m».* 

■*N(."W  i;nf,'liiml  is  thus  (losliriiatcil  liy  llic  jigiiciiluini!  patriarch, 
Evt'lyii,  ill  Kis  iiu  omparabi.-  work  on  tlic  forest  Trocs  of  Eiij,'iund, 
pubhshcd  (hM-iii",'  the  roijiii  ol' Charles  II. 


Ml 


■}t' 


80 


For  the  foundation  of  manufactories,  tnere  is  no 
such  district  of  country  east  of  the  Hudson.  The 
whole  prism  of  Connecticut  River  is  a  mighty  and 
perpetual  hydraulic  power,  from  its  source  to 
Springfield.  Already,  on  its  falls  and  tributary 
streams,  numerous  establishments  for  the  fabrica- 
tion of  v.oollen,  cotton,  silk,  metallic,  and  other 
articles,  are  in  successful  operation  ;  and  make 
the  valley  what  it  can  be,  and  must  be,  and  will 
be,  by  a  canal  through  its  entire  extent,  and  the 
rapiii  })rosperity  of  the  vigorous,  enlightened,  en- 
terprising, industrious  and  highly  meritorious  peo- 
])le,  and  the  foundation  and  advancement  of  the 
towns,  which  must  ris(3  into  being  and  consecpience, 
will  be  as  remarkable  and  interesting,  as  has  been 
so  admirably  illustrated  at  VVoonr.ocket  Falls,  Paw- 
tucket,  Providence,  Waltham,  Lowell,  Dover, 
Taunton,  Chicopee,  Cabot,  S|)ringlield.  and  the 
numerous  othei'  important  Birmingliums,  Leeds  and 
Sheliields,  which  embellish  and  dilluse  wealth  along 
the  various  water  courses  of  the  northeastern 
states. 


From  the  remarkable  geographical  features  of 
the  country  east  of  t.^e  (ireen  Mountain  range,  and 
the  })osition  of  the  chief  commercial  emporium  of 
all  the  States  north  of  New  York,  those  natural 
facilities  which  capacious  valleys  and  the  channels 
of  rivers  present,  for  opening  improvetl  lines  of  in- 
tercommunication, generally  have  a  direction  at 
right   angles,   to    the   lines  of  travel, — which,   as 


81 


■:  'il 


radii,  extend  from  that  mart  through  the  interme- 
diate region,  to  the  extremes  of  its  latitude,  as  far 
as  its  western  bounds.     The  construction  of  rail- 
roads and  canals  is  therefore  difficult  and  expen- 
sive, when   compared  with  like  undertakings  in 
other  more  favored  portions  of  the  Union.     But 
those  very  obstacles  render  improved  avenues  still 
more  necessary  and  important ;  for  so  great  are 
the  impediments  interposed  on  the  existing  roads, 
that  most  of  the  products  of  agriculture,  and  all 
those  of  the  forest,  mines  and  quarries,  are  exclud- 
ed from  the  markets  of  the  sea  coast,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  enormous  expense  of  transportation, 
while  the  cost  of  the  imports  is  proportionably  en- 
hanced from  the  same  cause.     In  fact,  the  inhabi- 
tants  in   the  valley  of  the  Connecticut   River  are 
farther  from  a  market,   taking  into  consideration 
the  time  and  expense  in  accomplishing  an  inter- 
change of  exports   and   imports,  than  those  who 
reside  in  the  vicinity  of  the  great  lines  of  naviga- 
tion, and  are  more  than  four  hundred  miles  from 
the  city  of  New  York. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  inferred,  that  the  natu- 
ral difficulties  which  the  mountainous  and  rugged 
surface  of  the  northeastern  States  present,  are  to 
be  considered  insuperable,  or  so  appalling  as  to 
discourage  all  attempts  to  surmount  ihem ;  for 
since  the  science  of  topographical,  hydraulic,  and 
other  branches  of  civil  engineering,  have  been 
brought  into  practical  and  skilful  operation  in  the 
U 


h  II 


I  [I 

I; 


'T 


■;h 


82 


construction  of  roads,  railways  and  canals,  it  has 
been  fully  demonstrated  with  what  admirable  adroit- 
ness and  ingenuity,  comparatively,  level  lines  of 
intercourse  have  been  perfected  through  all  parts 
of  our  country,  where  it  had  been  deemed  impossi- 
ble to  avoid,  or  conquer,  the  various  and  imposing 
obstacles,  which  were  to  be  encountered. 

It  has  only  been  necessary,  in  executing  the 
most  difficult  work,  to  secure  the  services  of  com- 
petent talents,  and  furnish  the  requisite  means. 
Antl  whether  it  was  to  trace  the  Siniplon  road  of 
Napoleon,  over  the  giddy  height  of  the  Alps,  bid 
defiance  to  the  fury  of  a  ten)})est,  by  the  breakwa- 
ters of  Cherbourg  and  Plymouth,  I'car  a  granite 
Pharos  on  the  Eddystone  Rock,  in  the  midst  of  a 
stormy  ocean,  tunnel  mountains,  and  span  the  pro- 
foundest  chasms,  for  the  channels  of  canals,  or  the 
route  of  a  locomotive  engine,  or  suspenil  an  iron 
briilge  I'l'om  the  lofty  cliffs  which  frown  over  the 
deep  Anglesian  Gulf,  the  labor  was  undertaken 
with  the  same  confidence  of  success,  as  in  the  erec- 
tion 01  a  gateway  to  a  baronial  castle.  This  has 
also  been  gloriously  verified  in  our  own  State,  by 
the  construction  ol' u  naval  dock,  which  would  have 
been  honorable  to  Roman  or  Egyptian  power  ;  and 
in  the  erection  of  the  Western  Avenue,  that  real 
Giant's  Crossway  through  the  sea. 

There  is  one  olher  route  which  the  citizens  of 
the  northwestern  portion  of  the  State  will  urgently 


ill 


83 

and  justly  require  to  be  opened  for  their  benefit, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  entire  population,  on  the  sea 
coast.  The  rail-road  to  Lowell  must  be  extended 
to  Fitchburgh,  on  the  north  branch  of  the  Nashua 
River  ;  and  from  thence,  either  through  Ashburn- 
ham,  or  Westminster,  and  down  the  valley  of  Mil- 
ler's River  to  Greenfield. 

Massachusetts  having  fearlessly  entered  the  wide 
field  of  internal  improvements,  there  is  no  danger 
of  a  retrograde  movement  ;  so  far  from  it,  there 
are  such  potent  reasons  for  a  Fiini  and  forward 
course,  that  all  which  is  desirable,  and  in  the 
power  of  man  to  accomplish,  will  be  done,  to  ena- 
ble the  people,  in  every  part  of  the  State,  to  partic- 
ipate in  the  advantages  of  the  great  trade  of  the 
West,  and  those  subsidiary  fiicilities  of  intercourse 
which  their  agricultural,  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial interests  demand. 

Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  must  fol- 
low the  example  of  the  revolutionary  Hercules, 
and  place  their  citizens  on  an  ecpiality  with  those 
who  are  resolutely  prosecuting  so  many  and  such 
glorious  works,  for  the  present,  and  all  future  gen- 
erations. Those  States  require,  and  must  have,  a 
direct  communication,  either  by  rail-roads  or  ca- 
nals, between  Portland  and  Lake  Chami^lain  ;  for 
on  the  shores  of  the  latter  is  to  be  rearetl  a  vast 
entrepot,  where  will  debouch,  one  of  the  two  grund 
artificial  outlets  of  the  five  immense  Lakes,  which 


m 


84 


New  York,  ere  long,  will  have  opened  upon  her 
own  frontier. 


>  lift' 


■I 


!        I 


The  citizens  of  Maine,  in  an  especial  manner, 
cannot  fail  of  perceiving  how  immediately  that 
State  is  to  be  benefited  by  such  a  work  ;  as  it  will 
render  Portland  the  maritime  port  for  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  exports  and  imports,  which  will  pass 
that  northern  channel,  beyond  the  State  of  Ver- 
mont, as  well  as  for  a  vastly  increased  amount  of 
those  of  the  intermediate  country.  Even  under 
the  imperfect  means  of  transportation,  which  have 
hitherto  existed,  that  flourishing  city  has  been  the 
market  for  upper  New  Hampshire,  the  eastern 
towns  of  the  northern  portion  of  Vermont,  and  a 
part  of  Canada  ;  but  the  trade  has  not  been  deem- 
ed sufficient  to  warrant  the  construction  of  even  a 
better  common  highway ;  or  rather,  the  well 
established  fact  has  not  been  duly  and  sufficiently 
considered,  that  improved  facilities  of  intercourse 
create  business^  and  often  more  than  quadruple 
what  previously  existed.  This  has  been  satisfac- 
torily illustrated,  by  the  introduction  of  steam  navi- 
gation, on  the  Hudson,  the  Sound,  the  Ohio,  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  Lakes,  and  the  construction  of 
canals  and  rail-roads,  all  over  the  United  States. 

But  that  erroneous  supposition  no  longer  forms 
one  of  the  elements  for  deciding  on  the  course 
which  it  is  now  proper  to  adopt ;  for  it  is  not 
merely  the  traffic  between  the  two  extremes  and 


! 


her 


85 

along  the  intermediate  country,  through  which  the 
proposed  route  will  pass,  that  is  to  be  estimated, 
but  the  immense  commerce  which  is  to  be  added, 
by  opening  a  communication,  with  that  extensive 
line  of  navigation,  which  will  be  completed,  from 
Lake  Champlain  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary  and  the 
Harbor  of  Chicago. 

On  my  return  from  the  Niagara  frontier,   last 
Autumn,  I  took  the  steamboat  route,  from  Lewis- 
ton,  down   Lake  Ontario,   to  Rochester    Harbor, 
Oswego,  and  Kingston,   and  the  St.  Lawrence  to 
Ogdensburgh  and  Montreal ;    and  from  thence  to 
St.  Johns  and  Burlington,  on  Lake  Champlain,  and 
across  Vermont  to  the  Connecticvt  River,  Concord 
and  Boston,  for  the  express  purpose  of  obtaining 
exact  intelligence  in  relation  to  the  practicability 
and  importance  of  opening   a  communication,  by 
canals  or  rail-roads,   from  Ogdensburgh  to  Lake 
Champlain,   and    from   thence  into   the  valley  of 
Connecticut  River,  and  on  to  Concord  and  Boston, 
and  easterly  to  Portland. 

The  ascent,  from  Burlington,  up  the  valley  of 
Onion  River  to  Montpelier,  is  very  gradual,  as 
there  is  not  a  precipitous  cascade,  in  the  whole 
distance,  of  any  moment,  and  the  natural  facilities, 
which  the  banks  present,  ior  a  rail-road,  are  such 
as  admit  of  its  construction,  without  encountering 
any  verv  considerable  acclivity,  or  other  impedi- 
ment.    The  descent  eastward,  down  the  valley  of 


86 


*  il 


White  River,  from  the  culminating  point,  to  the 
Connecticut  in  New  Hartford,  is  (juite  as  favorable. 
There  are  other  routes  which  have  been  explored, 
across  the  Green  Mountains,  and  among  them  one 
through  the  valley  of  Lamoelle  River,  has  been 
surveyed  for  a  canal,  which  terminates  at  Barnet, 
a  few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Amanoosic. 
This  line  has  been  represented  as  offering  peculiar 
advantages  for  a  canal  ;  but  the  (question,  as  to 
which  should  be  adopted,  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
route  of  communication  with  Portland,  must,  in  a 
great  measure,  depend  on  the  point  where  that 
shall  reach  the  Connecticut  River.  Suthcient  data 
cannot,  however,  be  obtained  for  deciding  on  the 
preference  of  any  of  the  lines,  until  thorough  re- 
connoisances  have  been  made,  by  intelligent  engi- 
neers. 


Within  the  last  four  years,  while  making  tours 
to  the  grand  and  sublime  scenery  of  the  White 
Mountain  region,  I  have  examined,  in  nearly  their 
whole  length,  two  lines,  and  deviations  therefrom, 
from  Portland  to  Connecticut,  River — a  description 
of  each  of  which,  was  given  to  the  editor  of  one  of 
the  newspapers  in  that  city,  and  published. 

The  northern  route  passes  from  >  ebago  Lake,  up 
the  Valley  of  Crooked  River  to  Bethel,  on  the 
Androscoggin  River,  which  has  since  been  survey- 
ed, and  ascertained  as  practicable  lor  a  canal,  and 
of   course    less    difficult    for    a  rail-road.       From 


87 


Bethel,  the  line  passes  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Androscoggin,  to  the  mouth  of  Moose  River,  which 
nearly  interlocks  in  a  meadow  in  front  of  Bowman's 
log-house  tavern,  with  Israel  River,  and  down  the 
latter  to  the  Connecticut,  in  the  town  of  Lancas- 
ter. 

The  other  line  passes  the  White  Mountain  range, 
from  Conway,  through  the  valleys  of  Swift,  and  the 
north-eastern  branch  of  the  Pamigewasset,  into  the 
valley  of  the  main  channel  of  that  prolongation  of 
the  Merrimac;   and   from   thence  there    are    two 
routes  to  the  Connecticut,-  one  terminating  near 
Haverhill,  and  the  other  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ama- 
noosic.     All  these  routes  must  be  exactly  explored 
and  surveyed  ;  but  there  is  not  a  doubt  that   both 
are  practicable,  and  either  inlinitely  superior  for  a 
common  road,  to  the  unamendable  and  terrific  high- 
way now  travelled,  that  passes  the  Notch,  through 
the   valley    of  Saco    River— which  is   bad  even  in 
winter,  and  worse  in  summer. 

The  means  which  Maine  has  at  command,  from 
her  vast  domain  of  wild  lands,  with  such  others  as 
can  be  created,  without  imposing  any  very  onerous 
burthen  on  the  people,  are  ample  for  executing  the 
important  ])uhlic  works,  which  are  so  indispensable 
to  the  prosperity  of  that  extensive  and  rapidly  nou- 
rishing State,     in   area,    it   is  larger  than  the  five 
other  New  England  States,  as  it  contains  3o,00': 
square   miles,  while  they  include  but  33,766  ;   and 


1 


88 


when  the  population  becomes  only  as  dense,  as  is 
now  the  case  in  Massachusetts,  it  will  amount  to 
3,150,000.  The  tonnage  of  her  vessels  employed 
in  foreign  commerce,  the  coasting  trade,  and  fish- 
eries, is  nearly  double  that  of  all  the  other  New 
England  States, — excluding  Massachusetts, — and 
of  that  of  Pennsylvania,  more  than  double  that  of 
New  York,  and  three  times  greater  than  that  of 
Maryland. 

But  the  grand  line  of  intercommunication  from 
Portland  to  Lake  Champlain,  is  not  the  only  im- 
provement which  Maine  must  undertake.  A 
rail-road  will  soon  be  required,  to  meet  that  advan- 
cing from  Boston  to  Portsmouth,  and  another  to 
extend  it  to  Brunswick,  Gardiner,  Augusta,  and 
Bangor. 

If  the  Rip  Van  Winkles  of  the  Northern  Star,* 
cannoi  be  roused  from  their  somnolency,  the 
young,  intelligent,  and  enterprising,  must  muster 
in  their  strength,  and  form  an  elite  band,  as  pa- 
triotic and  zealous  as  that  which  fearlessly  breast- 
ed the  Persian  invasion,  and  determine  to  place  their 
wide  extended  commonwealth  on  a  level  with  the 
most  active  and  successful  in  internal  improvements  ; 
for  unless  this  is  promptly  and  elliciently  done,  Maine 
will  continue  to  furnish  emigrants  to  people  the 
western  wilds,  instead  of,  in  turn,  becoming  an  El- 

•  The  crest,  of  the  arms  of  Maiiie.  is  the  JVorth  Star. 


a 

it 
n 


Ii 


89 


as  IS 
nt  to 
loyed 
fish- 
New 
— and 
at  of 
lat  of 


dorado  of  the  east.  It  has  a  soil  equal  to  that  of 
any  portion  of  the  northern  section  of  the  Union  ; 
its  coast  is  studded  with  embryo  ports,  and  her  nu- 
merous rivers  and  lakes  only  require  to  be  render- 
ed subservient  to  navigation,  and  manufacturing 
purposes,  to  develope  the  abundant  sources  of 
prosperity  and  wealth,  which  have  too  long  been 
neglected,  or  inadequately  appreciated. 

The  Granite  State  has  not  been  indifferent  to  the 
general  movement,  throughout  the  land,  in  rela- 
tion to  internal  improvements  ;  and  various  routes 
have  been  explored,  for  canals  and  rail-roads, 
which  are  well  worthy  of  the  patronage  of  one  of 
the  earliest  established  colonies,  and  which  was,  at 
all  times,  conspicuous  tor  the  heroic  part  it  took  in 
the  memorable  Indian  and  French  wars,  and  espe- 
cially that  which  eventuated  in  the  achievement  of 
national  independence.  No  braver  or  better  troops 
ever  deployed,  on  the  field  of  battle,  than  the  New 
Hampshire  regiments  ;  or  were  sterner  patriots,  or 
more  gallant  soldiers  to  be  found,  when  any  deed 
of  desperate  valor  was  to  be  done,  than  Starks, 
Sullivan,  Ciliey,  McClary,  Read,  and  their  nume- 
rous companions  in  arms. 

Energy  is  one  of  the  eminent  characteristics,  of 
the  citizens  of  that  State,  and  from  the  demonstra- 
tions which  have  already  been  made,  they  and  the 
legislature  will  not  fail  to  discharge  their  several 
12 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


& 


90 


duties  in  a  manner  worthy  of  their  ilkstrious  pre- 
decessors. 

As  a  son  of  New  Hampshire,  and  where  my  pro- 
genitor first  landed,  as  one  of  the  persecuted  exiles 
of  England  ;  and  where  many  of  his  descendants, 
for  fi\o  generations,  have  resided,  I  feel  a  profound 
interest  in  the  prosperity  and  the  proverbially  in- 
dustrious, frank,  hardy,  bold,  and  adventurous  citi- 
zens of  that  ancient  and  venerated  commonwealth  ; 
and  I  confidently  believe,  that  they  will  maintain 
that  exalted  reputation,  which  was  purchased  by  the 
best  blood  of  their  fathers,  in  the  sacred  cause  of 
freedom. 

Connecticut  has  constructed  several  lines  of  ca- 
nals and  rail-roads,  and  is  now  actively  engaged  on 
others,  which  sufficiently  evince  the  spirit  that  is 
abroad,  in  that  striking  example  of  the  ingenious, 
pains-taking,  nomadick,  and  restless  habits,  of  the 
Universal  Yankee  Nation.* 

Rhode  Island, — the  first  to  establish  manufac- 
tures, and  second  to  no  other  part  of  the  United 
States  in  commercial  enterprise  and  navigation, — 
advanced  shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  her  neighbor- 
ing States,  in  the  career  of  establishing  improved 
lines  of  intercourse. 


Y( 

ofM 
Ile£ 


So  called  by  Jefferson. 


91 

You  no  doubt  are  glad  that  this  closes  the  series 
JZl  in  relation  to  internal  improvements_as 
I  leave  to-morrow  for  Boston. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


LETTER    VIII. 


Hawthorn  Cottage, 
Roxbury,  Jan.  15,  1839 

Tg  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts : 


.1 


Dear  Sir, — I  intended  to  have  written,  at  least, 
one  more  letter  from  Buflfalo,  for  the  purpose  of 
adding  some  facts,  which  should  have  been  in- 
cluded, in  the  account  of  the  Western  States  and 
Territories,  and  of  several  of  the  lines  of  commu- 
nication, which  will  ultimately  concentrate  in  the 
ports  on  Niagara  River,  more  fully  to  illustrate  the 
importance  of  speedily  completing  the  Great  West- 
ern Rail-road,  from  Boston  to  Albany  ;  but  indis- 
position, and  the  necessity  of  my  return,  prevented 
me  from  doing  so,  and  I  have,  therefore,  concluded 
to  attempt  to  fill  up  the  various  hiatuses,  so  far  as 
it  was  practicable  ;  still  the  subject  will  have  been 
but  very  imperfectly  presented,  in  all  its  interest- 
ing and  momentous  bearings. 

The  canals  and  rail-roads  which  have  been  pro- 
jected,  completed,  or  are   being  constructed   in 


> 


Ohio, 

ly  w( 

presel 

Michi 

Iowa) 

inert 

not  si 

they 

timai 

com] 

the 


pet 

ties 

sou 

anc 

Er 

ih 

Sv 


as 
ft 
( 


93 


of 


#* 


I 


Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  are  generally  sufficient- 
ly well  known,  as  well  as  the  vast  resources  and 
present  condition  of  those  powerful  States  ;  but 
Michigan,  and  the  territories  of  Wisconsin  and 
Iowa,  being  of  very  recent  origin,  and  their  rapidly 
increasing  population  and  commercial  consequence 
not  so  universally  understood,  it  seems  proper  that 
they  should  be  succinctly  described,  from  their  in- 
timate connection,  with  the  main  avenues  of  inter- 
communication, from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  to 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  State  of  Michigan  is  formed  of  two  vast 
peninsulas,  which  are  separated  at  their  extremi- 
ties, by  the  Straits  of  Michillimackinack.  The  most 
southern  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  Lake  Michigan, 
and  on  the  east  by  Lakes  Huron,  St.  Clair,  and 
Erie,  and  the  outlets  of  the  two  former.  That  in 
the  north  extends  south-easterly,  between  Lakes 
Superior,  Michigan,  and  Huron.  The  latter  has, 
as  yet,  but  a  small  population,  which  is  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  Sault  of  St.  Mary,  and  the  shores  of 
Green  Bay. 

The  settlement  of  Michigan  has  an  antiquity  as 
great  as  that  of  some  of  the  Atlantic  States  ;  for  a 
military  post  was  established  at  Detroit,  by  the 
French  Canadian  government,  as  earl^  as  1663. 
Being  nearly  surrounded  by  three  of  the  great  in- 
land seas,  and  traversed  by  numerous  rivers,  with 
a  soil,  which  for  fertility  is  not  surpassed  by  that  of 


wr.i- 


I, 


94 


any  other  of  the  noirth-western  states » the  southern 
peninsula  is  fast  becoming  important,  from  the 
amount  of  its  agricultural  products,  and  the  exten- 
sive commercial  operations  of  its  numerous  ports. 
It  is  only  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles  broad, 
in  its  greatest  longitude,  which  makes  the  distance, 
between  the  most  interior  town  and  steamboat  na- 
vigation, only  about  eighty  miles.  But  these  natu- 
ral facilities  have  not  been  sufficiently  favorable,  to 
satisfy  the  requirements  of  that  industrious  and  en- 
terprising population,  which,  within  eighteen  years, 
has  increased  from  nine  to  nearly  two  hundred  thou- 
sand ;  and  the  government  has  wisely  and  prompt- 
ly established  a  most  liberal  system  of  internal  im- 
provements,— to  carry  which  into  effect,  a  fund  has 
been  created,  from  the  per  centage  received  of  the 
United  States,  on  all  the  public  lands  sold,  the  in- 
come from  banks,  the  tolls  of  the  canals  and  rail- 
roads, and  the  whole  of  the  surplus  revenue  from 
all  other  sources. 


in  ^1 


tbel 
Nvil] 


oul 
of' 


to 

cc 
tl 
n 


Three  rail-roads  and  two  canals  have  been  pro- 
jected, across  the  southern  peninsula. 

The  route  of  the  Southern  Rail-road  commences 
on  the  navigable  waters  of  the  River  Rasin,  near 
the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  extends,  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  to  New  Buffalo,  on  the 
River  St.  Joseph,  which  falls  into  Lake  Michi- 
gan, towards  its  southern  extremity,  and  nearly 
opposite  the   port   of  Chicago.     It   is   183  miles 


I 


the 
fxten- 
Jorts. 

»nce, 
\t  na- 

latu- 

3,  to 
en- 
ars. 


96 


in   length,  and  the  estimated   expense    is  about 
11,500,000. 

The  Central  Rail-road  extends  from  Detroit  to 
the  village  of  St.  Joseph.  It  is  194  miles  long,  and 
will  cost  $2,000,000. 

The  Northern  Rail-road  commences  at  Port 
Huron,  at  the  mouth  of  Black  River,  near  the 
outlet  of  Lake  Huron,  and  terminates  at  the  rapids 
of  Grand  River,  which  are  forty  miles  from  its 
mouth. 


il 


!t 


The  Clinton  and  Kalamazoo  Canal  is  intended 
to  unite  Lake  St.  Clair  with  Lake  Michigan.  It 
commences  at  Mount  Clemens,  and  debouches  into 
the  mouth  of  Kalamazoo  River,  The  length  is  216 
miles,  and  the  estimated  cost  $2,250,000. 

The  Saginaw,  or  Northern  Canal,  will  connect 
the  navigable  waters  of  Saginaw  and  Grand  Rivers, 
the  former  falling  into  the  capacious  bay  of  that 
name,  which  opens  into  Lake  Huron,  about  half 
way  between  its  outlet  and  the  Straits  of  Michilli- 
mackinack.  The  whole  length  of  this  line,  inclu- 
ding the  improvements  of  the  channels  of  Bad  and 
Maple  Rivers,  is  only  fifty-three  miles,  and  the  ex- 
pense will  not  exceed  $300,000. 

The  St.  Mary's  Canal  is  intended  to  obviate  the 
obstruction  occasioneil  by  the  falls,  to  the  naviga- 


96 


tion  between  Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  by  the 
construction  of  a  ship  and  steamboat  channel, 
which  will  extend  the  line  of  coast  for  all  the  ves- 
sels of  the  Great  Lakes,  at  least  1,600  miles.  The 
canal  is  to  be  ten  feet  deep,  fifty  feet  wide  at  the 
bottom,  and  one  hundred  at  the  surface  of  the  wa- 
ter, and  the  locks  one  hundred  feet  long  and  thirty- 
two  wide.  The  fall  to  be  overcome,  is  only  eigh- 
teen feet,  and  the  whole  length  of  the  canal  will  be 
less  than  a  mile. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  the  plan  of  this  highly 
important  work  should  be  revised,  before  any  at- 
tempt is  made  to  carry  it  into  eflfect ;  for  when  the 
immense  area  of  the  lakes,  which  are  to  be  united, 
is  considered,  and  the  very  limited  extent  of  the 
canal  required  to  accomplish  that  object,  there 
should  oe  no  error  committed,  in  establishing  the 
dimensions,  as  has  been  too  frequently  the  case  in 
this  country.  The  least  cross-section  of  the  canal 
should  be  one  hundred  feet  at  the  bottom,  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  at  the  surface  of  the  water,  with 
a  depth  of  twelve  feet  ;  and  the  locks  two  hundred 
feet  long  and  fifty  feet  wide. 

Besides  these  extensive  works  the  State  has  un- 
dertaken to  improve  the  navigation  of  Grand,  Kala- 
mazoo, and  vSt.  Joseph  Rivers,  which  includes  a 
distance  of  280  miles.  Thus  this  newly  created 
State,  which  was  not  admitted  into  the  Union  until 
1836,  with  a  population  not  one  third  as  great  as 


t 

that  of  ' 
tion  of 

gate  le 
diture 

' 

Uons  0 
tbous^ 

sioner 
until 

In 

exec 

com\ 

as  m 

leng 
ted 

1 

1 

riv 

tio 

1 

1 

cVi 

be 

m 

c 

c 

1 

I 

1 

[he 

le 
le 


ra- 


97 


that  of  Massachusetts,  has  undertaken  the  construc- 
tion of  various  lines  of  intercourse,  whose  aii;gre- 
gate  lenjifth  is  1,109  miles,  and  involving  an  expen- 
diture of  more  than  §8,000,0()(),— nearly  two  mil- 
lions of  which  have  already  been  appropriated,  al- 
though the  act  for  establishing  a  board  of  commis- 
sioners on  internal  improvements,  was  not  passed 
until  March,  1837. 

In  addition  to  the  public  works  which  are  tr  '»e 
executed  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  twenty-l  -r 
companies  have  been  incorporated,  for  establishing 
as  many  different  lines  of  rail-roads,  whose  united 
length  is  over  one  thousand  miles,  and  the  estima- 
ted cost  $6,800,000. 

The   Territory   of  Wisconsin  now    appears,   to 
rival  Illinois  and  Michigan,  in  attracting  the  atten- 
tion of  eastern  emigrants,  from  the  salubrity  of  its 
climate,   and   the  excellence  of  its  soil.     Laying 
between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi,   the 
numerous  rivers,  which  have  their  sources  near  the 
central  meridional  line,  and  How  into  those  capa- 
cious receptacles,  offer  great  facilities  for  forming 
numerous  navigable  channels,  which  will  unite  the 
ports  open  to  steamboats,  on  the  east,  with  every 
portion  of  the  western  bounds  of  the  Territory  ; 
and  there  being  neither  mountains  or  morasses  to 
encounter,  and  the  surface  of  the  country  being  so 
very  universally  level,   that   not  only  canals,   but 
rail-roads  can  be  made,  at  a  small  expense,  com- 
13 


I 


98 


pared  with  that  which  is  unavoidably  incurred  in 
the  Middle  and  Northern  States,  from  the  rugged- 
ness  ol'  their  features. 

As  late  as  1830,  the  whole  population  of  the 
then  connected  "territories  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa 
was  only  3,()65  ;  but  in  1836,  it  had  increased  to 
22,000,  and  so  great  has  been  the  tide  of  emigra- 
tion, within  the  last  two  years,  that  it  is  now  esti- 
mated to  exceed  70,000. 

The  agricultural  advantages,  mineral  resources, 
and  general  character  of  the  Territory,  have  been 
thus  favorably  described  by  Mr.  Featherstonhaugh, 
the  Geologist  of  the  United  States,  in  his  report 
of  an  exploration  in  the  Northwest,  during  the 
year  1836  : — "  I  have  never  seen  a  country  of  such 
extraordinary  mineral  value,  embracing,  at  the 
same  time,  a  soil,  a  very  great  portion  of  which  is 
of  the  first  agricultural  quality.  It  is  one  of  the 
finest  demesnes  that  nature  ever  offered  to  man. 
But  no  assertion  can  do  justice  to  its  surprising  fer- 
tility, as  it  is  capable  of  raising  any  thing  and  every 
thing  susceptible  of  cultivation,  with  the  least  de- 
gree of  expense.  The  climate,  which  is  cold  in 
winter,  but  dry  and  salubrious  throughout  the  year, 
aids  in  justifying  the  expectation,  that  it  will  soon 
become  one  of  the  most  populous,  flourishing,  pow- 
erful, and  happy  portions  of  the  United  States." 

The  Territory  of  Wisconsin  is  embraced  within 


i' 

i 

I 


the  sa 
Massa' 

the  ^= 
large 
ern  o 
Penn 


TrrwEi-Ti.'iirtK',.' 


99 


m 


the  same  parallels  of  latitude  as  that  portion  of 
Massachusetts  which  is  situated  north  of  Boston, — 
the  States  of  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  a 
large  part  of  Maine  ;  but  the  climate,  in  the  south- 
ern counties,  is  as  mild  as  that  of  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania. 

Like  the  whole  of  that  section  of  the  United 
States  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans, 
which  is  north  of  the  forty-first  degree  of  latitude, 
this  Territory  is  diversified  by  numerous  lakes  and 
ponds  of  the  purest  water,  although  the  surface  of 
the  country  is  not  broken  into  hills  and  mountains, 
but  is  generally  undulating,  and  much  of  it  is  of 
the  prairie  formation.* 

The  chief  ports  on  Lake  Michigan  are  Green 
Bay,  and  Milwaukee  ;  but  Kewaunee,  Manitoo- 
wock,  Sheboyagan,  Racine,  .^t  the  mouth  wi  Root 
River,  and  Pike,  or  South  Port,  are  thriving  villa- 
ges. Surveys  have  been  made  by  the  General 
Government,  and  plans  matured,  for  the  improve- 
ment of  all  of  these  harbors,  by  the  construction  of 
piers  and  breakwaters  ;  and  light  houses  have  been 
erected,  at  the  entrance  of  several  of  them. 


The  town  of  Green  Bay,  including  the  villages 
of  Navarino  and  Astor,  is  situated  at  the  head  of 
Green   Bay,   on  the  right  bank  of  the  estuary  of 

*  It  is  ii  rerimikalile  fact,  tliat  there  are  scarcely  any  lakes  or  ponds 
south  of  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitude,  except  in  Florida. 


100 


Fox  River.  The  French  early  established  a  mili- 
tary post  at  this  place,  but  it  was  never  occupied 
as  such  by  the  United  States,  until  IHIG.  The 
harbor  is  excellent,  and  when  the  Fox  and  Wis- 
consin Rivers  are  united,  as  they  will  be  soon,  by 
the  Portage  Steamboat  Canal,  which  requires  a  cut 
of  only  one  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  it  will 
become  one  of  the  most  important  commercial  en- 
trepots on  the  upper  lakes. 

Milwaukee  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that 
name,  and  about  ninety  miles  north  of  Chicago. 
Four  years  since,  it  contained  only  two  log  huts, 
and  now  it  has  a  population  of  more  than  4,000. 
The  position  is  commanding,  from  the  natural  and 
artificial  means  which  can  be  employed  to  render 
it  the  most  eligible  port,  for  the  exports  and  im- 
ports of  a  large  portion  of  the  Territory. 

A  company  has  been  chartered  for  constructing 
a  Canal  from  Milwaukee  to  Lake  Kuskenong,  which 
will  be  only  fifty-two  miles  in  length,  and  will 
open  a  water  communication  from  thence,  down 
Rock  River  to  the  Mississippi,  of  more  than  200 
miles  in  extent.  The  estimated  expense  is  1 ,000,000 
of  dollars,  and  most  of  the  stock  has  been  sub- 
scribed. A  r&il-road  will  also  soon  be  commenced 
from  Milwaukee  to  Port  Hudson,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Wisconsin  River.  It  will  pass  through  Mad- 
ison City,  which  is  beautifully  situated,  near  the 
lower  end  of  the  most  northern  of  the  Four  Lakes, 


and  isi 
Messei 
of  thel 
168  ml 
has  bf 
wbichj 
and 
the 
for  a 
pass 
Beln 
mUe; 
banl< 
whe 
of  I 
rail- 
oft 
reg 


101 


i' 


and  is  the  capital  of  the  Territory, — Moundville 
Messer  Grove,  Dodgeville,  the  i)lace  of  residence 
of  the  Governor,  and  Wingvilie.  The  route  is 
168  miles  in  length.  A  branch,  fifteen  miles  long, 
has  been  projected  from  Dodgeville  to  Helena, 
which  is  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Wisconsin  River, 
and  about  seventy  miles  from  its  confluence  with 
the  Mississippi ;  and  a  com})any  has  been  formed 
for  another  branch,  from  Dodgeville,  which  is  to 
pass  southwesterly,  through  Mineral  Point  and 
Belmont  to  Mississippi  City,  which  is  but  a  lew 
miles  above  Du  Buque,  in  Iowa,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  is  the  port, 
where  nearly  all  the  lead,  of  the  celebrated  mines 
of  that  name,  is  shipped.  These  several  lines  of 
rail-road  pass  through  the  richest  agricultural  })arts 
of  the  territory,  and  the  very  centre  of  the  mining 
region. 


Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 


H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


II 


LETTER   IX. 


Hawthorn  Cottage, 
Roxbunj,  Jan.  20,  1839. 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts : 


Dear  Sir, — In  addition  to  the  Canals,  which 
have  been  described,  in  Wisconsin,  one  has  been 
projected  from  Madison  City  to  Arena,  which  is  on 
the  Wisconsin  River,  and  about  seventy  miles  from 
its  mouth.  The  length  of  this  canal  will  be  between 
twenty  and  thirty  miles.  Another  company  has 
been  incorporated  for  extending  a  Canal  from  Ken- 
tucky City,  on  the  Wisconsin,  to  Marquette,  on 
Lake  Winnebago,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles. 

But  the  most  important  navigable  line  of  com- 
munication, after  the  Portage  Canal,  for  connecting 
the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  is  that  which  has 
been  proposed,  from  the  mouth  and  up  the  valley 
of  Manitoowoc  River  to  Lake  Winnebago.  The 
object  of  this  great  work  is  to  obviate  the  ob- 
jections to  the  route  from  the  head  of  Green  Bay 
to  the  Mississippi,  as  the  navigation  of  that  large 
expanse  of  water  is  not  only  circuitous  and  diffi- 
cult, but  at  least  two  hundred  miles  out  of  the  di- 


Yect  ro| 
which 
ports 
mediat 

Tb^ 
miles 
length 
miles 
Gree 
tural 
Miss 
lllin 
cage 
tran 
in  a 
rive 


th< 

or 

il 

b 

s' 
t 
1 


I 


103 


I' 


tect  route  of  the  steamboats  and  other  vessels, 
which  have  an  intercourse  between  the  various 
ports  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  all  those  on  the  inter- 
mediate lakes,  to  the  Niagara  River. 

The  mouth  of  the  Monitoowoc  River  is  ninety 
miles  south  of  the  entrance  into  Green  Bay.  The 
length  of  the  canal  would  not  exceed  eighteen 
miles,  and  this  steamboat  route  joining  that  from 
Green  Bay,  in  Lake  Winnebago,  the  capacious  na- 
tural basin  of  both,  would  reach  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  four  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
Illinois  River,  which  will  be  the  outlet  of  the  Chi- 
cago ship  channel,  and  thus  shorten  the  distance  of 
transportation  several  hundred  miles,  for  the  towns 
in  a  large  portion  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  on  that 
river. 


If  this  last  named  canal  should  be  constructed, 
the  ports  of  Monitoowoc  and  Green  Bay  v;ill  not 
only  be  the  entrepots  for  the  country  traversed  by 
the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  a  distance  of  iwo 
hundred  and  forty-eight  miles,  but  that  on  both 
sides  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  River  Des  Moines 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, — including  a  line  of 
navigation  at  least  seven  hundred  miles  in  length, 
and  which  will  subserve  a  region,  whose  area  ex- 
ceeds 100,000  square  miles. 

The  Territory  of  Iowa  includes  all  that  portion 
of  the  United  States,  which  lies  north  of  the  State 


104 


of  Missouri,  and  between  the  Mississippi  and 
Missouri  Rivers.  It  was  not  organized  as  a  sepa- 
rate government  until  last  June.  The  settlements, 
which  have  been  commenced,  are  chiefly  between 
the  Des  Moines  and  Turkey  Rivers,  along  the 
bank  of  the  Mississippi ;  but  the  greatest  popula- 
tion is  in  the  region  of  the  lead  mines,  and  the 
town  of  Du  Buque  is  the  central  point  of  the  com- 
mercial business  of  the  territory. 

The  soil  and  climate  have  been  represented  as 
equal  to  any  portions  of  Illinois  or  Wisconsin,  and 
by  many  travellers  pronounced  superior  to  either. 
There  has  been  a  great  accession  of  inhabitants 
within  the  last  two  years  ;  but  most  of  the  indus- 
try, until  very  lately,  has  been  directed  to  mining, 
as  lead  ore  is  very  abundant  throughout  a  consid- 
erable tract  of  country.  The  mines  were  discov- 
ered in  1780,  by  the  wife  of  Peosta,  a  warrior  of 
the  Fox  tribe  of  Indians,  and  the  first  smelting 
works  were  erected  by  Julian  Du  Buque,  in  1788, 
who  obtained  permission  of  the  Indians  for  that 
purpose  ;  but  dying  in  1810,  his  house  and  whole 
establishment  was  destroyed,  and  every  vestige  of 
civilized  life  erased  ;  and  as  late  as  1820,  Mr. 
Schoolcraft  found  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  per- 
mission to  visit  the  mines,  so  jealous  were  the  In- 
dians of  the  whites,  and  so  fearful  that  they  would  en- 
croach upon  their  rights,  if  they  should  obtain  a 
knowledge  of  the  abundant  mineral  riches  which 
their  lands  contained.     Since,  however,  the  Indian 


title  has 
Ijeds  of 
quantity 

eluding] 
edto 


105 


la- 
Is, 

le 


title  has  been  extinguished,  by  treaty,  these  prolific 
beds  of  ore  have  been  extensively  wrought,  and  the 
quantity  of  lead  now  obtained  is  enormous,  for   in- 
cluding that  produced  in  Wisconsin,  it  has  amount- 
ed to  over  30,000,000  of  pounds  in  a  single  year. 

The  rapidly  increasing  population  and  commer- 
cial consequence  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  may  be 
estimated  from  the  fact,  that  in  the  year  1837  the 
number  of  steamboat  arrivals  and  departures,  at 
Du  Buque  alone,  amounted  to  seven  hundred  and 
seventeen. 

Besides  lead,  the  Territories  of  Wisconsin  and 
Iowa  are  rich  in  other  useful  minerals,  which  will 
either  be  found  of  great  consequence  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  inhabitants,  or  increase  the  variety 
and  value  of  their  products  for  exportation.  There 
are  numerous  indications  of  mines  of  copper,  zinc, 
iron,  and  bituminous  coal  ;  lime,  sand  and  free- 
stone, are  profusely  scattered  over  the  country. 
Cornelians  and  agates  are  found  on  the  shores  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  other  rivers. 

As  much  the  largest  portion  of  the  lead  of  these 
territories  and  Illinois  is  consumed  in  the  northern 
Atlantic  ports,  for  manufacturing  purposes  of  va- 
rious kinds,  in  naval  and  other  architectural  struc- 
tures, paints,  aqueducts,  and  the  infinite  other 
uses  to  which  it  is  applied,  the  direction  which  it 
will  ultimately  take,  for  the  great  eastern  maritime 
14 


106 


markets,  when  the  canals  and  rail-roads  shall  hate 
been  completed  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Mi- 
chigan, will  be  through  the  ports  on  Niagara 
niver  ;  and  the  quantity  required  for  New  Eng- 
land will  vastly  augment  the  transportation  of  the 
Great  Western  Rail-road,  from  Boston  to  Albany, 

Missouri  is  the  central  point, — the  grand  key- 
stone of  the  Union.  On  the  eastern  side,  it  is  lav- 
ed by  the  broad,  deep,  and  ever  downward-rushing 
floods  of  the  American  Ganges^  while  it  is  trav- 
ersed, in  its  whole  western  extent,  by  the  mighty 
Missouri  and  its  numerous  tributary  waters.  Pos- 
sessing a  soil  of  unrivalled  excellence,  a  diversity 
of  climate  and  topographical  features,  as  remarka- 
ble as  they  are  propitious  to  all  those  branches  of 
industry,  which  can  be  prosecuted  in  any  of  the 
middle  states,  with  inexhaustible  mines  of  lead  and 
huge  mountains  of  iron  ore,  of  such  eminent  pro- 
lificness  and  superior  quality,  as  no  other  portion 
of  the  globe  presents,  this  state  is  destined  to  hold 
a  most  commanding  position,  for  participating  in  the 
internal  commerce  of  the  nation,  and  St.  Louis  will 
certainly  become  one  of  the  largest  emporiums, — 
the  future  magnificent  Delhi  of  the  Republic. 

All  the  multifarious  products  of  those  far  spread- 
ing western  regions,  must  take  their  various  routes, 
through  the  infinitely  numerous  lines  of  intercom- 
munication, which  have  been  described,  and  finally 
concentrate  in  the  Golden  Horn  of  the  Niagara, 


and  froT 

down  t1 

Hudsoi 

of  the 

rence, 

A 

Comn 

made 

of  tb 

Cana 

be  t 

Bost 

beir 

the 

is  n 

im][ 

tha 


m 

a 

a 


107 


ra 


I 


and  from  thence  be  floated,  in  accumulated  masses, 
down  the  Grand  Highway  of  the  Erie  Canal,  to  the 
Hudson,  or  ultimately,  by  the  more  northern  route 
of  the  ship  Canal,  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence, to  Champlain  and  Quebec. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  report  of  the  Canal 
Commissioners  of  the  State  of  New  York,  has  been 
made,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining,  what  portion 
of  the  articles,  which  are  transported  on  the  Erie 
Canal,  were  of  such  a  character,  as  that  they  could 
be  transferred  to  the  rail-road,  from  Albany  to 
Boston,  and  I  found  they  amounted  to  380,000  tons, 
being  more  than  one  third  of  the  whole  ;  and  that 
the  value  was  about  45,000,000  of  dollars,  which 
is  more  than  four  fifths  of  the  total  amount  of  the 
imports  and  exports  of  the  west,  that  annually  pass 
that  channel. 

More  than  half  of  the  1,171,296  tons,  which 
made  up  the  freights  of  the  season,  consisted  of  the 
products  of  the  forest,  and  with  those  of  quarries 
and  mines  amounted  to  744,000  tons  ;  but  their 
aggregate  value  was  only  7,500,000  of  dollars.  It 
will,  therefore,  be  perceived,  that  Boston  may  par- 
ticipate largely,  in  the  commerce  with  the  west, 
through  the  medium  of  the  Western  Rail-road. 

But  there  is  another  interesting  aspect  of  this 
subject,  which  merits  special  consideration,  from 
the  direct  bearing  which  it  has,  on  the  travel  and 


i!l 


108 


transportation  of  the  great  thoroughfare,  which 
Massachusetts  has  undertaken  to  open  to  the  Hud- 
son. That  river,  as  well  as  the  Erie  Canal,  is 
closed,  from  about  the  20th  of  November,  until  the 
month  of  April, — a  period  of  nearly  five  months, 
when  the  only  intercourse,  between  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  that  portion  of  the  state,  which 
extends  north  and  west  from  Albany,  is  by  com- 
mon roads  and  rail-ways.  It  has  been  stated,  that 
the  line,  of  the  last  named  mode  of  transportation, 
will  be  completed  from  Albany  to  Buffalo  within 
two  years  ;  and  when  that  from  Boston  to  Albany 
shall  be  finished,  a  passage  can  be  performed,  with 
ease,  from  Buffalo  to  Boston,  in  thirty-six  hours ; 
and  all  the  articles  of  export  and  import,  of  the 
whole  intermediate  country,  capable  of  being  trans- 
ported on  rail-roads,  may  be  sent,  to  or  from  the 
latter  city,  during  the  long  period  the  navigation 
of  the  Hudson  and  Erie  Canal  are  obstructed  by 
ice.  It  now  requires  from  three  to  four  days  for 
passengers  to  reach  the  city  of  New  York,  from 
Albany  ;  but  by  the  Western  Rail-road,  they  may 
leave  the  last  named  city  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  be  in  Boston  in  season  to  take  the  after- 
noon train  of  cars  for  Stonington,  and  reach  New 
York  by  seven  o'clock  the  next  day. 


WW 

the  St 

from 

the  St 

by  th 

tol^t 

in  ad 

State 

ofpe 

A 

]SIe\ 

wh( 

wit 

fro 

poi 

ani 

of 

as 

n 


The  facilities  thus  afforded,  will  command  all 
the  travel,  during  the  winter,  from  that  part  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  Canada,  Eastern  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts,  which  now  concentrates  at  Albany, 
as  the  point  of  departure,  for  New  York. 


109 

While  at  Buflfalo,  I  found  that  the  travel,  after 
the  steamboat  and  canal  navigation  had  closed, 
from  the  northern  part  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
the  state  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  even  lovsra, 
by  the  stage  routes  to  that  city,  and  from  thence 
to  New  York,  was  very  considerable, — all  of  which 
in  addition  to  that  named,  will  pass  through  this 
State,  as  the  most  expeditious  and  pleasant  mode 
of  performing  the  journey. 

Articles  of  merchandise,  which  are  obtained  in 
New  York,  and  destined  for  Albany,  as  well  as  the 
whole  country  north  and  west  of  that  city,  together 
with  such  products  as  it  may  be  desirable  to  send 
from  that  vast  region  of  country,  may  be  trans- 
ported by  the  Western,  Boston  and  Providence, 
and  Stonington  rail-roads,  and  the  excellent  lines 
of  steamboats  from  the  two  latter  ports,  in  nearly 
as  short  a  period  as  by  the  Hudson  River,  when  its 
navigation  is  open. 

These  are  cheering  inducements  for  the  ener- 
getic prosecution  of  the  work  of  internal  improve- 
ment in  Massachusetts.  There  is  not  only  the 
certainty  of  an  ample  remuneration  for  the  capital 
and  labor  expended,  but  there  is  the  still  more  im- 
portant consideration,  that  the  interests  of  all  bran- 
ches of  industry  will  be  thus  most  pre-eminently 
advanced. 

The  thrifty  and  exalted  position  in  which  this 


110 


State  and  its  capital  will  be  placed  by  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Western  Rail-road,  is  no  longer  a  sub- 
ject of  question  or  doubt  ;  and  such  will  be  the 
rapidly  increasing  amount  of  travel  and  transporta- 
tion, that  a  second  track  will  be  required  in  less 
than  five  years  from  the  completion  of  the  first  ; 
and  within  ten  after  that  shall  have  been  laid  down, 
it  will  be  found  that  a  Canal  must  also  be  con- 
structed, to  accommodate  the  incalculable  quantity 
of  exports  and  imports  of  the  thronging  population, 
of  the  ever  extending  bounds  of  the  Far  West,  for 
which  Boston  will  be  the  emporium.  We  shall 
only  have  reversed  the  course  which  New  York 
has  pursued.  There  a  canal  was  first  formed  ; 
but,  although  it  accommodated  the  transportation 
of  merchandise  and  the  products  of  the  interior,  it 
did  not  sufficiently  subserve  the  demands  of  the 
hurried  and  impatient  owners  of  the  cargoes,  of 
those  multitudinous  boats,  which  covered  its  surface, 
and  the  millions  of  other  impetuous  travellers,  who 
thronged  the  same  line  of  intercommunication. 
Speed,  and  certainty  of  reaching  their  several  points 
of  destination,  were  indispensable  to  satisfy  their 
hasty  and  restless  dispositions, — that  hurried  and 
active  movement  which  characterizes  the  Ameri- 
can, and  a  rail-road  is  now  being  run,  parallel  to 
the  route  of  the  canal,  for  that  purpose  ;  and 
scarcely  had  portions  of  it  been  opened  to  the  me- 
teor flight  of  the  steam  driven  cars,  before  it  was 
discovered  that  each  of  these  modes  of  conveyance 
were  the  cause,  as  well  as  the  effect,  of  the  in- 


creased 

portati 

that  tb 

thegT 

bastb 

ruplii^ 

Tl 
cura( 
not  ^ 
nish 
in  d 
in 
atn< 
hal 
an( 
of 
a 
n( 
t\ 
tl 
I 


Ill 


cre&sed  and  increasing  amount  of  travel  and  trans- 
portation, which  they  aeverally  accommodated,  and 
that  the  canal  was  not  sufficiently  large  to  answer 
the  grand  objects  of  its  construction,  and  the  labor 
has  therefore  been  commenced,  for  more  than  quad- 
rupling its  capacity. 

The  data  for  ascertaining  with  considerable  ac- 
curacy the  population  of  the  United  States  at  any 
not  very  distant  future   period,  having  been  fur- 
nished by  the  several  enumerations  of  the  people, 
in  decadal  terms  of  years,  it  may  be  assumed,  that 
in   twenty-five  from  this    time,   the   census   will 
amount  to  at  least  30,000,000,  and  that  nearly  one 
half  the  number  will  be  contained  within  the  states 
and  territories  which  participate  in  the  navigation 
of  the  Erie  Canal.     At  that  time,  Boston  will  have 
a  population  of  more  than  200,000 ;  and  at  the 
next  duplication,  which  will  be  within  half  a  cen- 
tury, it  will  be  augmented  to  500,000,  and  that  of 
the  Union  to  60,000,000.     Many  of  those  who  are 
now  just  commencing  the  career  of  life,  will  be 
actively  engaged  in  transacting  the  vastly  increased 
business  of  the  country,  at   the  expiration  of  the 
first  term  which  has  been  named,  while  the  chil- 
dren, who,  at  this  moment,  are  crowding  our  pri- 
mary schools,  will,  like  us,   at  the  termination  of 
the  second,  be  looking  forward  to  still  more  won- 
derful results,  and  many  of  them  will  witness  the 
realization  before  they  sleep  with  the  generations 
that  have  preceded  them.     They  will  be  extend- 


112 

ing  their  more  ample  views  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  contemplating  new  lines  of  inter- 
course between  the  Pacific  and  the  densely  popu- 
lated valley  of  the  Mississippi,  on  which  will  be 
borne  the  rich  products  of  Asia  and  the  Oriental 
Isles. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 


H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


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LETTER    X. 


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Hawthorn  Cottage,    ) 
Roxbvry,  Jan.  29,  1839.  \ 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  : 

Dear  Ser, — One  more  short  letter,  and  I  shall 
have  concluded  a  correspondeace  which  I  fear  has 
already  been  extended  too  far.  In  a  conversation 
with  Col.  Beach  of  Gloucester,  a  few  days  since, 
in  relation  to  the  importance  of  speedily  complet- 
ing the  Great  Western  Railroad,  he  communicated 
the  following  interesting  facts  : 

Before  the  construction  of  the  Providence  and 
Stonington  rail-roads,  the  whole  number  of  halibut 
annually  caught,  and  brought  into  Cape  Ann,  did 
not  exceed  2,500,  which  were  nearly  all  sold  fresh, 
for  immediate  consumption  ;  for  not  having  been 
in  demand,  when  cured  in  any  manner  by  salt,  for 
the  domestic  or  foreign  markets,  but  few  were  pre- 
pared for  that  purpose  ;  in  fact,  so  worthless  were 
they  considered,  as  salted  fish,  that  the  owners  of 
the  vessels  employed  in  the  fisheries,  generally  in- 
structed the  crews  to    cut  adrift  all  the   halibut 
which    were  drawn    up,   and,   every   year,   many 
15 


114 


thousand  had  been  thus  turned  back  to  the  deep, 
with  a  fatal  wound.  But  such  was  now  the  facility 
of  transporting  them  fresh^  to  the  New  York  mar- 
ket, at  least  16,000  were  taken,  and  a  large  por- 
tion of  them,  sent  to  that  city,  by  the  rail-roads 
and  steamboats.  The  averag  j  weight  of  each  being 
fifty  pounds,  the  whole  quantity  amounts  to  800,000 
pounds,  and  as  the  common  price  paid  to  the  fish- 
ermen, is  two  cents  per  pound,  this  new  source  of 
revenue  yields  an  income  of  $16,000. 

Formerly  the  halibut  was  only  caught  late  in  the 
spring,  and  during  the  summer  and  autumnal 
months,  on  the  South  Shoals  of  Nantucket,  along 
the  coast  of  Cape  Cod,  in  Barnstable  Bay,  on 
Cashe's  Ledge,  and  some  other  places,  where  they 
were  most  abundant,  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year 
and  always  in  deep  water,  being  considered,  as  it 
is  termed,  a  bottom  fish  ;  but  since  the  demand  for 
this  American  Turbot,  as  it  may  with  propriety  be 
called,  (for  it  much  resembles  that  delicious  fish, 
in  form  and  flavor,)  has  so  vastly  increased,  the 
fishermen  have  made  explorations  in  search  of  other 
haunts,  and,  to  their  great  astonishment,  found 
them  in  immense  quantities  on  George's  Banks, 
early  in  March  ;  and  what  was  still  more  surpris- 
ing, and  a  fact  entirely  unknown  to  them,  they 
appeared  in  extensive  shoals,  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  like  mackerel,  and  were  taken  with  but 
three  or  four  fathoms  of  line,  instead  of  from  20  to 
70,  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  use,  time 


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out  of  mind,  in  the  bottom  fishing.  The  Cape  Ann 
vessels  take  from  200  to  500  each  trip,  weighing 
from  twenty  to  one  hundred  -rounds. 

Besides  this  novel  and  important  branch  of  the 
fisheries  of  our  coast,  that  of  cod  and  haddock  has 
been  so  much  extended,  to  supply  the  New  York 
market,  during  the  winter,  cold  spring  and  autumn 
months,  that  over  one  hundred  boats  are  constantly 
employed,  and  from  four  thousand  to  six  thousand 
pounds  are  daily  sent  to  Boston,  and  from  thence, 
by  the  rail-roads  and  steamboats. 

These  fish  were  heretofore  sold,  by  the  fisher- 
men, for  66  cents  per  hundred  pounds,   and  now 
they    average    .*il,33.       This    additional    demand 
amounts  to  at  least  $8,000  for  about  six  months, 
which,  with  that  obtained  from  the  halibut,  gives 
an   increase  to  the  fishermen  of  the  peninsula  of 
Cape  Ann  alone,  of  $24,000.     But  the  moral  influ- 
ence is  still  more  important,  for  the  winter  has 
ever  been  a  period  of  leisure,  to  the  largest   por- 
tion of  that  hardy  and  adventurous  class  of  our  fel- 
low citizens,  and  too  much  of  it  was  spent   in  a 
manner,  which,  while  it  exhausted  their  funds,  that 
had  been  so  laboriously  earned,    induced  habits  of 
dissipation,  which  were  productive  of  most  delete- 
rious, if  not  ruinous  consequences  to  themselves 
and  families. 


Immense  numbers  of  fresh  fish  are  also  sent, 


116 


during  the  winter,  into  the  interior  of  New  Eng- 
land, New  York  and  the  Canadas  ;  and  when  the 
Western  Rail-roads  shall  have  been  completed  to 
Lake  Erie,  the  demand  for  the  supply  of  the  nu- 
merous and  fast  increasing  population  on  that  long 
route,  of  over  500  miles,  will  be  enormous,  as  there 
is  not  a  man,  woman  or  child,  who  has  bathed  in 
the  cool  green  waters,  or  inhaled  the  refreshing 
breeze,  redolent  of  the  ocean-shores  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  has  removed  into  the  far  off  West, — Jind 
their  name  is  legion,  that  will  not  rejoice  at  the 
sight  of  a  car  load  of  salt  water  fish  ;  for  they  re- 
collect them,  with  as  deep  an  interest,  as  did  the 
Israelites  those  of  Egypt,  during  their  long  wan- 
dering in  the  wilderness. 


There  are  198  vessels,  100  boats,  and  1116  men 
engaged  in  the  fisheries  of  the  district  of  Glouces- 
ter, and  the  value  of  the  salted  and  fresh  fish, 
annually  taken,  is  estimated  at  .'^440,340. 

In  addition  to  the  facts  obtained  from  Col.  Beach, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  state,  that  even  the  boys  of 
your  city,  are  employed,  as  well  as  a  great  number 
of  men,  in  taking  smelts  in  the  harbor,  Charles 
River,  and  the  basin  of  the  Western  Avenue  which 
are  daily  sent  off  by  the  rail-roads  for  the  tables, 
of  the  whilom  juvenile  Yankee  disciples  of  old 
Isaac  Walton,  who  now  reside  in  New- York — thus 
showing  that  there  is  no  employment,  however 
humble,  or  any  branch  of  industry,  however  tri- 


117 


fling,  which  is  not  directly  benefited  by  internal 
improvements.  But  the  whole  extent  of  the  fish- 
eries, in  all  the  various  branches,  from  the  ''catch- 
ing" of  a  smelt,  at  the  ends  of  the  wharves,  to  the 
''killing"  of  a  whale  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  has  been 
woiiderfuUy  encouraged  and  increased,  from  the 
facilities,  which  have  been  given  to  transportation, 
by  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  and  all  the 
western  rivers  and  lakes,  as  well  as  the  bays  and 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  States  by  steamboats,  and 
the  construction  of  canals  and  rail-roads,  over  the 
whole  country. 


At  the  close  of  the  war,  in  1815,  the  fishermen 
were  almost  in  despair ;  for  the  general  peace  of 
Europe  had  given  freedom  to  the  navigation  of  all 
nations,  and  the  competition  which  would  thus  be 
produced  with  the  bounties  offered  by  France  and 
England  to  their  own  vessels,  and  the  monopoly 
secured  by  the  latter  to  its  American  colonies  in 
the  West  India  supply,  seemed  to  threaten  an  ex- 
tinction of  their  vocation;  but  this  apprehension 
was  of  short  duration  ;   the  demand  for  the  supply 
of  the  ports  on  our  own  coast,  and  the  whole  West, 
soon  gave  a  new  stimulus  to  their  enterprise,  and 
ultimately  more  than  replaced  the  loss  of  the  mar- 
kets of  Europe.     From  the  vast  number  of  quin- 
tals of  dried  fish  and  barrels  of  mackerel  which 
have  been  annually  shipped  to  Albany,  to  be  sent 
up  the  Erie  Canal,  that  city  is  now  called  New 


118 

Bilboa*  by  our  fishermen;  and  with  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore  and  New  Orleans,  afford  better  markets 
than  all  the  West  India  Islands,  France,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  the  Mediterranean. 

In  1804,  the  value  of  dried  and  pickled  fish  ex- 
ported fi-om  the  United  States  was  $3,040,000  but 
in  1822  only  about  $900,000,  and  has  averLed 
smce  not  over  $1,000,000,  while  the  domestic  de- 
mand has  so  much  increased,  that  the  quantity  con- 
sumed, of  salt  and  fresh,  is  over  $5,000,000. 

The  tonnage  engaged  in  the  fisheries  in  1822 
was  less  than  80,000,  and  now  it  is  nearly  double 
that  amount,  and  in  which,  the  hundreds  of  boats 
that  have  been  added  are  not  included. 

By  the  very  interesting  and  highly  valuable  stat- 
istical report,  which  you  mude  to  the  Legislature 
last  February,  it  appears, — 

That  there  were  employed  in  Massachusetts,  in 
the  Cod  and  Mackerel  Fisheries,  1290  sail  of  ves- 
sels, which  required  11,146  hands,  and  that  the 
quantity  of  fish  taken  was  valued  at  $3,208,559. 

In  the  Whale  Fishery  there  were  3G6  vessels, 
whose  aggregate  tonnage  was  113,417,  and  they 
were  navigated  by  8,980  men.  The  oil  imported 
was  valued  at  $4,271,470. 

*  That  Spanish  port  was,  formerly,  one  of  the  greatest  markets  for 
our  fish. 


119 


Thus  the  Fisheries  of  this  State  give  employ- 
ment to  1650  sail  of  vessels,  besides  many  hundreds 
of  boats,  and  20,126  men  and  boys;  and  the  annu- 
al value  of  the  products  of  this  extensive  and  im- 
portant branch  of  industry  amounts  to  |7,480,029, 
which  is  equal  to  the  income  from  a  capital  of  more 
than  $124,000,000.  And  all  this  is  drawn  from  the 
inexhaustible  treasures  of  the  deep,  which  will  be 
annually  and  forever  augmented  in  proportion  to 
the  extension  of  the  improved  lines  of  intercommu- 
nication, which  are  being  and  will  continue  to  be 
multiplied,  with  the  increase  of  population,  and  that 
of  every  kind  of  industry. 

Still,  this  lucrative  branch  of  maritime  enter- 
prise constitutes  but  a  comparatively  small  portion 
of  the  productive  industry  of  our  State,  which,  ex- 
clusive of  agriculture,  the  coasting  trade,  and  fore- 
ign commerce,  amounts  to  more  than  86,000,000, 
a  large  part  of  which  is  in  manufactured  articles, 
that  are  sent  to  every  section  of  the  Union. 

These  facts  exhibit,  in  a  most  conclusive  man- 
ner, the  deep  interest  which  Massachusetts  has,  in 
the  establishment  of  lines  of  internal  improvement, 
throughout  every  portion  of  its  territory,  and  into 
the  most  distant  regions  of  the  republic. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

H.  A.  S.  DEARBORN. 


ERRATA. 

In  Letter  I.  instead  of  15,000  acres,  read  18,000,  as  the  contents  of  Grand  Island, 
At  the  end  of  Letter  V.  for  emperian.  read  empyrean. 


4 


